Scourge of the Video Arcades
by WarioMan3K
Summary: GJA #3 of my fanfic series. Trouble is brewing in Diamond City, consisting of Rudy and Rudeena Macrohard! The CEOs of a disreputable company with its ironic name, Purifying Programs Interactive, wreak havoc upon 9-Volt and his friends! But all is not lost, for Keyla and Patricia, his guardian angels, lead a quest to save the day... *COVER IMAGE OF PATRICIA IS USED WITH PERMISSION*
1. GJA fanfic series tidbits

-FOR GAME-JUMPING ADVENTURES #3 AND BEYOND-

Before we begin the next entry in my GJA series, allow me to show you my updated list of arcade games available at certain locales in Diamond City (in my stories), plenty of which Wreck-It Ralph and his pals could explore within the virtual realm beyond the Game Central Station at Diamond Arcade World...

NOTE: When I say coins, I usually mean quarters or 25 cents since Diamond City is located in the United States, at least to my knowledge in the WarioWare games (especially the first one). But you probably already knew how things work at any arcade center. Also, games that have been recently added to the following locations listed or relocated elsewhere in Diamond City, will be bolded.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph belongs to Disney; and Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl.**

* * *

 **-Blaze Bomber's Diamond Arcade World (my fan-made location; built and funded by WarioWare Inc. shortly after World War III and the fall of Red Falcon in my stories)-**

*The following arcade games were initially divided into three different sections, depending on the year it was released. Three games by "TobiKomi", however, are from _Wreck-It Ralph_ ; courtesy of Disney. As sponsored by WarioWare Inc. through its profits, the collection had slowly but surely expanded to this day forth, rivaling that of Litwak's Arcade. Diamond Arcade World is two stories high in general; thus the 80s and 90s sections are on the ground floor, whereas the "2000 and Beyond" section is on the upper level.*

*Within Diamond Arcade World is Game Central Station, which had slowly but surely became like a bustling capital in Diamond City's virtual realm over the months thanks to Blaze Bomber's premise that "retro arcades don't have to die in America."*

*After _Game & Wario_ was released on the Nintendo Wii U, Blaze Bomber and Penny Crygor used half the profits to not only order some other arcade games, but also hire a group of Centurion Strongarms to help them expand their arcade center. Again it is two stories high, only now the "2000 and Beyond" section is split into two separate rooms.*

-FIRST FLOOR-  
THE CLASSIC 80s (All the games in this section need no more than one coin per credit.)  
 _Fix-It Felix Jr._ \- TobiKomi; 1982  
 _Pac-Man_ \- Namco; 1980  
 _Galaga_ \- Namco; 1981  
 _Frogger_ \- Konami; 1981  
 _Dig Dug_ \- Namco; 1982  
 _Ms. Pac-Man_ \- Namco; 1982  
 _Tron_ \- Midway; 1982 (based on Disney's namesake film from the same year it was released)  
 _Dragon's Lair_ \- Cinematronics; 1983 (designed and animated by famed ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, this laserdisc arcade game displays animated cutscenes which play out as quick-time events. Players are prompted to control the valiant but bumbling Dirk the Daring's reactions by selecting a direction or pushing the sword button with correct timing in order to move on to the next stage.)  
 _Tapper_ \- Midway; 1983 (also known as _Root Beer Tapper_ nowadays)  
 _Track & Field_ \- Konami; 1983 (one of the first Olympic-themed sports games which featured six events for up to 4 players to compete in. Between gaming hours, the characters in Game Central Station - retro or modern - would game-jump here and test their skills to determine who would be the best of the best.)  
 ** _Space Ace_** \- Cinematronics; 1984 (also designed and animated by Don Bluth; players are prompted to time Dexter/Ace's reactions just right in order to advance any further in his quest to rescue Kimberly and stop the evil Commander Borf from utilizing his Infanto Ray. On occasions, they may also press the action button when prompted by the on-screen "Energize!" message to temporarily transform Dexter back into Ace and fight back the enemies.)  
 _Gauntlet_ \- Atari Games; 1985  
 _Super Contra_ \- Konami; 1988  
 _Final Fight_ \- Capcom; 1989  
 _Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road_ \- Leland Corporation; 1989 (while there are plenty other racing games for the characters to show off their driving skills after hours, they sometimes go here for some off-road action.)

THE GREAT 90s (Depending on the game chosen in this section, one or two coins will be needed for each player.)  
 _Sugar Rush_ \- TobiKomi; 1997 (now with two twin cabinets linked for 4 players due to popular demand, at two coins each; new racers daily along with an update which added some new courses and Minty Zaki's Japanese version of herself: Minty Sakura. Ever since Blaze Bomber added _Neo Bomberman_ next to _Sugar Rush_ , the racers view the game as their world's kid-friendly, next-door neighbor.)  
 _Street Fighter II: The World Warrior_ \- Capcom; 1991 (while some visitors claimed Blaze Bomber could have brought in _Super Street Fighter II Turbo_ instead, he preferred having the very first edition of Street Fighter II around so newcomers in Diamond City could experience what it was like back in the olden days. Then again, there's also Marvel VS Capcom 2 and Capcom VS SNK 2 over at Wario Park.)  
 _Captain Commando_ \- Capcom; 1991  
 _The King of Dragons_ \- Capcom; 1991  
 _Knights of the Round_ \- Capcom; 1991 (though it was released in 1992, the copyright year on the title screen actually says 1991.)  
 _NBA Jam_ \- Midway; 1993 (needless to say, two coins for one quarter and eight for the whole game per player. A teammate or an opponent may join the game in progress at any time.)  
 _Daytona USA_ \- Sega; 1993 (twin cabinet with 2 players; only one coin per race since this game had three courses to choose from. Between gaming hours, the characters don't game-jump here often, claiming it's not as action-packed as some other racing games like _Sugar Rush_.)  
 _Alien vs. Predator_ \- Capcom; 1994  
 ** _2 On 2 Open Ice Challenge_** \- Midway; 1995 (while two tokens are needed for each player to start, a typical hockey game lasts for three periods instead of four unlike basketball. Therefore, six tokens may be used to play the whole match from the first period, although a teammate or an opponent may join in at any time.)  
 _Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3_ \- Midway; 1995 (even though it supports 2 players at a time, a 4-player "two-on-two" session is possible for eight coins, as well as an 8-player tournament mode for sixteen altogether. Aside from that, many view this game as a huge improvement to the first edition of MK3.)  
 ** _Neo Bomberman_** \- Hudson Soft; 1997 (uses the Neo Geo Multi Video System, or MVS, arcade cabinet supplied by SNK Playmore. Blaze Bomber recently sold _Cruis'n World_ online prior buying _Neo Bomberman_ for the Great 90s section, his close friends believing the Cruis'n series didn't age well like some of the other racing classics during Midway's heyday.)  
Area 51/Maximum Force Duo - Atari Games; 1998 (compilation of _Area 51_ and _Maximum Force_ , which I've seen at least once in my life; two coins per credit. They may be the least dangerous when compared to all the other light gun games plugged in at Game Central Station, but whenever Ralph game-jumps here with his friends, he usually covers his eyes upon destroying the enemies so he wouldn't have an urge to vomit. Like in the aforementioned games, whenever the enemies are shot they usually get blown to guts.)  
 _Panic Park_ \- Namco; 1998 (two coins for solo play and four for the VS mode; this game had a unique control scheme with two levers on the same row, which allows 2 players to push the in-game avatars - the red girl for the first and the blue boy for the second - against each other during the 25 minigames available. Between gaming hours, characters from all around Game Central Station would game-jump into _Panic Park_ for the excitement with the aforementioned avatars as their hosts. So far, this game is said to be safe in the arcade, and while some challenges are intense, visitors are assured they won't have to worry about dying outside their own respective games.)  
 _Star Wars Trilogy Arcade_ \- Sega; 1998 (two coins per credit)  
 _NFL Blitz 2000_ \- Midway; 1999 (costs the same as _NBA Jam_ for each player, only it's American football.)

-SECOND FLOOR-  
2000 AND BEYOND (Getting pricey now, because the following games listed go for two coins per credit; others may require more than that. For example, _H2Overdrive_ and _Dirty Drivin'_ both cost a whole US dollar worth of quarters per race.)  
 _Metal Slug 3_ \- SNK Playmore; 2000  
 ** _Mocap Boxing_** \- Konami; 2001 (had an interesting control scheme, in addition a pair of boxing gloves hooked to the cabinet, for a boxing game at the time. Using motion capture technology, it detects the player's movements as they interact with the game, eventually making into a workout if they can call it that. As a general rule of thumb, active participation, including ducking, dodging, and rapid delivery of punches, is required to defeat one virtual opponent after another. Sometime after Blaze Bomber bought it from Diamond City Mall, it hosts boxing matches between gaming hours for all the characters residing in or visiting Game Central Station, to watch for entertainment purposes.)  
 _Soul Calibur II_ \- Namco; 2002 (between gaming hours, Calhoun would sometimes game-jump here for a sparring session with Sophitia, Xianghua, Cassandra, and/or Talim with Felix watching idly to see how capable his wife can be in a weapon-based melee, especially since she plans to compete in a tournament someday. However, she and Ivy Valentine don't exactly see eye-to-eye...)  
 _The King of Fighters 2002_ \- SNK Playmore; 2002 (during gaming hours, the fighters speak fluent Japanese, but can speak English pretty well after closing time.)  
 _Silver Strike Bowling_ \- Incredible Technologies; 2004  
 _Golden Tee Fore! Complete_ \- Incredible Technologies; 2005  
 _Time Crisis 4_ \- Namco; 2006 (three coins per credit)  
 ** _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_** \- Nintendo and Namco; 2008 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; like the first arcade installment based on the _Mario Kart_ series, this sequel costs $2 worth of coins per race. However, the additional gameplay elements available show signs of improvement.)  
 _H2Overdrive_ \- Specular Interactive and Raw Thrills; 2009 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players after the building was extended; four coins per race. Spiritual successor to Midway's _Hydro Thunder_. Ralph loves to game-jump here after hours for a powerboat racing session or two with some of the fellow "bad guys" from Bad-Anon.)  
 ** _Razing Storm_** \- Namco; 2009 (four coins per credit; Blaze Bomber traded _Aliens: Extermination_ for this game from Diamond City Mall when he heard other players' opinions about how fun it, along with _Deadstorm Pirates_ , stood out as opposed to a couple other light gun games they've played in Diamond City. While this makes the digital realm within the mall more comfortable, Calhoun and her fellow soldiers would have to help the men of S.C.A.R. - Strategic Combat and Rescue - keep everything safe, especially after what happened in the Disneyland game.)

THE MODERN AGE OF 2010s  
 _Hero's Duty_ \- TobiKomi; 2012 (costs $2 per credit as seen at Litwak's Arcade in _Wreck-It Ralph_ )  
 ** _Deadstorm Pirates_** \- Namco; 2010 (four coins per credit; many claim this game to be "tons more fun than Global VR's _Aliens: Extermination_." As far as Ralph and his three comrades have seen, the undead enemies in the game don't appear to be a security threat at all. Perhaps it's because the pirate crew tasked with finding "Poseidon's Breath" keeps them in line after hours, similar to the way Calhoun and her fellow soldiers prevent the Cy-bugs from leaving _Hero's Duty_...)  
 _Dance Dance Revolution X2_ \- Konami; 2010 (one of its characters, Yuni Verse, is usually the one to announce to all the other game characters when the arcade's closed, like in _Wreck-It Ralph_.)  
 _Terminator Salvation_ \- Play Mechanix and Raw Thrills; 2010 (four coins per credit; rumored to be quite as dangerous as _Hero's Duty_ and _Aliens: Extermination_ , and is also off-limits to the civilians of Game Central Station during or after gaming hours, and not just because of Ralph's phobia of big killer robots.)  
 _Dirty Drivin'_ \- Specular Interactive and Raw Thrills; 2011 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players after the building was extended; four coins per race. Considered by residents of Game Central Station to be the craziest racing game ever because it involves vehicular combat...Not to mention it's like Super Off Road on steroids.)  
 _Pac-Man Battle Royale_ \- Namco; 2011 (the only game available in this section to cost one coin per player. Others may join a 5-round game in progress at any time except during the final round.)  
 ** _Winter X Games SnoCross_** \- Raw Thrills; 2012 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; four coins per race. Believed to be a spiritual successor to Midway's _Arctic Thunder_ , even though _Winter X Games SnoCross_ is sponsored by ESPN. Like with all the other racing games made by Raw Thrills, a free race is rewarded to whoever finishes in first place.)  
 ** _Transformers: Human Alliance_** \- Sega; 2013 (four coins per credit; licensed by Hasbro. Another of the four rail shooters, along with _Razing Storm_ , _Deadstorm Pirates_ and _Aliens: Armageddon_ , that Blaze Bomber recently brought in after selling _Aliens: Extermination_. Turns out he made the right choice as they all seemed more fun in his and Penny's opinions...)  
 ** _Aliens: Armageddon_** \- Play Mechanix and Raw Thrills; 2014 (four coins per credit; a spiritual successor to _Terminator Salvation_ it be, but no less dangerous than all the other light gun games either way. If the past is any indication, it's no secret that Ralph finds it to be violent and scary just like _Hero's Duty_ , perhaps even moreso than _Aliens: Extermination_...But one thing's for sure: at least it doesn't force players to rely on a semi-useless pistol whenever their assault rifle runs out of ammo in a dire situation.)  
 **Disneyland** \- TobiKomi (up to two players can explore the digital replica of the titular amusement park as their in-game avatars, which are created and accessed through the use of "Disney Magic" cards. Intended by TobiKomi for casual players, only one coin is required for each session. While this game is said to serve as a hub to the actual Disney realms after hours, let alone the fair kingdom of Enchancia from _Sofia the First_ , security measures had to be taken ever since the Vaati incident.)

* * *

 **-Wario Park (as seen in** ** _WarioWare: Snapped!_** **on DSiWare; built and funded by WarioWare Inc. 5 years after the Alien Wars despite suffering minor damage during Magnet Bomber's short-lived dictatorship, in my stories)-**

*Though an arcade center exists, there wasn't any need for tons of arcade games available since Wario Park also features a variety of WarioWare-themed rollercoasters, in addition to a bowling alley, a go-karting attraction, a minigolf center, and even some carnival games. After all, Blaze Bomber's Diamond Arcade World - also funded by WarioWare Inc. - has plenty of arcade games anyway. While it's normal these arcade games listed cost two coins per credit, especially at this location, there are a few exceptions below. Initially it had one floor, but Wario had since ordered Dr. Crygor and his robot workers - sans Mike - to make it two stories high as his first order of business to compete with Diamond Arcade World.*

*There exists a residential station in the digital realm, though not as large as Diamond Arcade World's Game Central Station, therefore making it seem like a small town in comparison. However, since Wario is now competing with Blaze Bomber's Diamond Arcade World just to keep his titular park popular, he has used half the profits from _Game & Wario_ on Wii U to bring in some more arcade games (including a few racing games previously owned from different places in Diamond City), thus transforming the digital realm itself into a city. Surprisingly, the enemies from _Target Terror_ don't seem to pose a threat at all, claiming to be actors whose jobs are to provide a challenge to the players, whilst dressed up like terrorists and generic ninja assassins.*

*Sometime after _Game & Wario_ sold to the masses on the Wii U, Wario heard the news about Blaze Bomber and Penny Crygor hiring a group of Centurion Strongarms from Skyworld to help them expand Diamond Arcade World. He attempted to do the same for Wario Park by selling _Mario Kart Arcade GP_ via eBay in order to get his hands on the more successful _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_ , believing that will help attract more customers since he's got himself a competition now. At first, he thought about buying _Mario Kart Arcade GP DX_ simply for its Double Dash-themed "Fusion Kart" feature in which two players can team up after acquiring a special item, but the moment he fould out it had ten courses as opposed to _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_ having 16, he settled for the second arcade installment instead. Either he overlooked the fact that _Mario Kart Arcade GP DX_ will make extensive use of downloadable content by gradually having more content added through major yearly updates via Internet connection, or he's just biased towards it not having the Wario Cup - much less the Diamond City and Snow Panic courses - anymore.*

-FIRST FLOOR-  
 _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time_ \- Konami; 1991 (3 lives per coin for up to 4 players)  
 ** _The Simpsons_** \- Konami; 1991 (3 lives per coin for up to 4 players; also known as "The Simpsons Arcade Game.")  
 _Sunset Riders_ \- Konami; 1991 (3 lives per coin for up to 4 players)  
 ** _X-Men_** \- Konami; 1992 (4-player cabinet, though the rarer 6-player version exists too; 3 lives per coin)  
 ** _Mystic Warriors_** \- Konami; 1993 (3 lives per coin for up to 4 players, with its gameplay similar to the western-themed _Sunset Riders_ )  
 _Violent Storm_ \- Konami; 1993  
 _Wayne Gretzky's 3D Hockey_ \- Midway; 1996 (same costs as with NBA Showtime, only it's ice hockey and has three periods instead of four. As a result, six coins may be used to play an entire match.)  
 _The House of the Dead 2_ \- Sega; 1998  
 _NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC_ \- Midway; 1999 (two coins for one quarter, eight for the whole game per player as with the past NBA Jam installments by Midway. Needless to say, anyone can join the match in progress - teammate or opponent - at any time.)  
 ** _NFL Blitz 2000_** \- Midway; 1999 (costs the same as Midway's previous sports games for each player, only it's American football. Apparently Wario wanted his own copy of the game for his rollercoaster/arcade park as part of his plan to compete with Diamond Arcade World.)  
 ** _The Simpsons Bowling_** \- Konami; 2000 (based on the Simpsons franchise by Matt Groening)  
 _Marvel VS Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes_ \- Capcom; 2000  
 _Capcom VS SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001_ \- Capcom; 2001  
 _Time Crisis 3_ \- Namco; 2003 (two coins per credit)  
 _Ghost Squad_ \- Sega; 2004 (two coins per credit)

-SECOND FLOOR-  
 ** _Target: Terror_** \- Raw Thrills; 2004 (two coins per credit)  
 ** _Soul Calibur III: Arcade Edition_** \- Namco; 2006 (two coins per credit)  
 ** _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_** \- Nintendo and Namco; 2008 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; like the first arcade installment based on the _Mario Kart_ series, this sequel costs $2 worth of coins per race. However, the additional gameplay elements available show signs of improvement.)  
 ** _Guitar Hero Arcade_** \- Raw Thrills and Konami; 2009 (published by Activision)  
 ** _H2Overdrive_** \- Specular Interactive and Raw Thrills; 2009 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players after the building was extended; four coins per race)  
 ** _Big Buck World_** \- Raw Thrills; 2010 (compilation of _Big Buck Hunter PRO: Open Season_ and _Big Buck Safari_ ; up to two players can compete in the same hunting season. Apparently Wario likes hunting games...)  
 ** _Dead Heat_** \- Namco; 2010 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; four coins per race)  
 ** _Fast & Furious: Super Cars_** \- Raw Thrills; 2010 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players at four coins per race; the latest in the _The Fast and the Furious_ arcade series)  
 ** _NASCAR Team Racing_** \- Global VR; 2010 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; four coins for one race regardless of the position the players came in at the end.)  
 ** _Super Bikes 2_** \- Raw Thrills; 2010 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players at four coins per race; sequel to _The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes_ albeit without the F &F license)  
 ** _Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition_** \- Capcom; 2010 (four coins per credit; one more fighting game for Wario Park, and surprisingly the same cabinet that the owner of Neo Platinum Sports Bar  & Gaming put up for sale on eBay!)  
 ** _Dirty Drivin'_** \- Specular Interactive and Raw Thrills; 2011 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; four coins per race)  
 ** _Big Buck HD_** \- Raw Thrills; 2012 (up to two players can compete in the same hunting season.)  
 ** _Winter X Games SnoCross_** \- Raw Thrills; 2012 (four single cabinets linked for 4 players; four coins per race. Believed to be a spiritual successor to Midway's _Arctic Thunder_ , even though _Winter X Games SnoCross_ is sponsored by ESPN. Like with all the other racing games made by Raw Thrills, a free race is rewarded to whoever finishes in first place.)  
 ** _Batman_** \- Specular Interactive and Raw Thrills; 2013 (four coins per credit; two single cabinets linked for 2-player VS sessions. It is more of a vehicular combat game because players can compete for the same objective in one of ten different Batmobile models from different versions of DC Comics's _Batman_. Mr. Freeze, Bane and the Joker are the main antagonists to take down along with their respective goons across Gotham City.)

* * *

 **-Mona Pizza (first appeared in** ** _WarioWare: Twisted!_** **on GBA; built 4 years after the Alien Wars but luckily didn't suffer any collateral damage at all during World War III, in my stories)-**

*Due to the size of the building, it could only hold up to four arcade games like the ones listed below; however Manager Joe recently added in _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ at Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, Cheerful White, Cute Pink, Kat and Ana's request (obviously because they all love the show). Fortunately, though, these games only require one coin per credit at this location.*

 _Donkey Kong_ \- Nintendo; 1981  
 _Donkey Kong Jr._ \- Nintendo; 1982  
 _Popeye_ \- Nintendo; 1982 (license granted by King Features Syndicate at the time)  
 _Contra_ \- Konami; 1987  
 ** _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_** \- Konami; 1989 (3 lives per coin for up to 4 players; purchased from Arcade Bomber's Mega-Tastic Retro Entertainment on the condition that it be given great care as it meant a lot to him.)

* * *

 **-Diamond City Lanes (another WarioWare fan-made location of mine; built sometime after the Alien Wars but luckily didn't suffer any collateral damage at all during World War III, in my stories)-**

*This bowling alley is basically normal yet clean as ever with neon lights, while the one at Wario Park is WarioWare-themed. On the other hand, its arcade center has three sports games with online features in which people can test their skills against one another at all times around the United States through any of the "LIVE" games by Incredible Technologies. The amount of money they cost to play depends on the settings the players choose in the main menu; of course people need to remember that _Silver Strike LIVE_ feels a little different from real-life bowling because it, along with Golden Tee golf and PowerPutt mini-golf, utilizes a straightforward trackball control.*

*Because Diamond City Lanes has three sports games available from Incredible Technologies, the virtual realm within came to be known as Video Sports Community. As such, game characters visiting from Diamond Arcade World's Game Central Station claim that _Silver Strike Bowling_ "ain't got nothing on this." In fact, those with a competitive spirit have since viewed it and _Golden Tee Fore! Complete_ as the opportunity to train for the "real deal" in the LIVE counterparts, and to show the digital world in the same region - say, North America - what they're made of...as long as they remember to return to their own games before the respective arcade opens.*

 _Silver Strike LIVE_ \- Incredible Technologies; 2010  
Golden Tee LIVE 20XX - Incredible Technologies  
PowerPutt LIVE 20XX - Incredible Technologies

* * *

 **-Aquamarine Cinematix (fan-made location in Diamond City, apparently built to replace an old movie theater that was utterly destroyed 5 years ago during the Alien Wars. Four arcade games are available there along with an air hockey table.)-**

*Its arcade center, albeit small like the one at Diamond City Lanes, is - you guessed it - a theater where the game characters from all around Diamond City's digital realm go to watch movies even when Aquamarine Cinematix is still open at night in the real world. The characters that migrated here after their respective games were plugged in have christened the area as Sapphire Theater Station. Thankfully they won't have to worry about being seen by the real people...*

 ** _Star Wars Racer Arcade_** \- Sega; 2000 (twin cabinet with 2 players; two coins per race)  
 ** _The House of the Dead III_** \- Sega; 2002 (two coins per credit)  
 _Sega Rally 3_ \- Sega; 2008 (two twin cabinets linked for 4 players; three coins per race)  
 _Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion_ \- Namco; 2008 (as Tekken is Japanese for "Iron Fist", the fighters in the game speak their native languages, depending on what country they hail from. Sometime after the game was plugged in, those who don't speak English as their first language are required to do so, or at least have a translator for all non-Tekken characters to understand what they're saying.)  
 _Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown_ \- Sega; 2010 (imported from Japan)

* * *

 **-Diamond City Mall (almost like Coconut Mall from** ** _Mario Kart Wii_** **, only it's stationed in Diamond City as my other fan-made location; heavily damaged during the Alien Wars and was rebuilt since. While it was wrecked again 5 years later when Sniper Bomber and Axe Bomber gave control of the city to Magnet Bomber, the damage level wasn't as bad as before.)-**

*Even shopping malls have an arcade center besides their usual department stores and food courts...for the most part. As this mall is two stories high, the arcade center is on the first floor. The digital realm itself is basically just that, only without an arcade center of its own. Recently the arcade operator sold some of the center's games to different owners, especially _Paradise Lost_ and _Razing Storm_ (the latter one purchased by Blaze Bomber), whilst bringing in a few other games deemed as popular. But unlike the actual arcade enthusiasts themselves (not just Blaze himself), the mall's arcade operator is only interested in a game if it's super popular, be it innovative or otherwise, hence the reason for selling _Silent Scope_ , _The Simpsons Bowling_ and _Mocap Boxing_ via eBay.*

*As a result, the localists of the digital mall need not fear for their lives any longer, even though they are recommended against going into _Aliens: Extermination_ and/or _The House of the Dead 4_ between gaming hours.*

 _Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike_ \- Capcom; 1999  
 ** _The Fast and the Furious_** \- Raw Thrills; 2004 (two coins per race; two single cabinets linked for 2 players)  
 ** _The House of the Dead 4_** \- Sega; 2006 (three coins per credit)  
 ** _Aliens: Extermination_** \- Global VR; 2006 (four coins per credit; entry is often ill-advised because of the Xenomorphs that live here. Even after it was sold to Diamond City Mall, Ralph _still_ finds it to be violent and scary just like Hero's Duty.)  
 ** _The Fast and the Furious: Superbikes_** \- Raw Thrills; 2006 (three coins per race; four single cabinets linked for 4 players)  
 ** _The Fast and the Furious: DRIFT_** \- Raw Thrills; 2007 (three coins per race; four single cabinets linked for 4 players)  
 _Primeval Hunt_ \- Sega; 2008 (three coins per credit)  
 ** _Rambo_** \- Sega; 2009 (four coins per credit, even though this game's said to be amazingly stupid because...well, it's freakin' Rambo. Blaze Bomber used to have it at Diamond Arcade World before he sold it online, having agreed with Penny's beliefs that it had too many rail shooters and not enough racing games to "even out" the variety.)  
 _Wheel of Fortune_ \- Raw Thrills; 2010 (published by Konami and licensed by Sony Pictures Studios; while it's technically a single-player cabinet where players have a chance to win tickets for prizes in the mall's arcade center, the game characters from around the digital world travel here and compete to win money and prizes alike as seen on TV. But that's only whenever the arcade it's located at is closed...)  
 ** _Operation GHOST_** \- Sega; 2012 (four coins per credit; sequel to Ghost Squad)

* * *

 **-Neo Platinum Sports Bar & Gaming (my fan-made, nighttime-only location in Diamond City)-**

*Built in a plaza on the outskirts of Diamond City about a mile to the north around the time _WarioWare: Twisted!_ became successful in the market, this sports bar - open from 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM on weeknights but closed on Sundays - has basketball, baseball, football, wrestling, boxing, and even the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) on many HDTVs. Sometimes Wario goes there alongside Waluigi and his two fraternity brothers, Billy and Sid, in the evening to watch those kinds of sports as well as play billiards at one of the four pool tables available. Its digital realm is casino-themed in which the characters can gamble at the tables - no children allowed, of course.*

*The arcade games, save for _PGA Tour Golf Team Challenge_ and _Madden Season 2_ , are located in the basement to save space for the pool tables on the ground level; the owner had just brought in some more games in an effort to popularize the sports bar further in the city, all the while selling _Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition_ via eBay prior to ordering _Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited_ , _Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate_ and _Ultra Street Fighter IV_ , all imported from Japan. Though he is a bit of an enthusiast, he insists on his idea of attracting customers that all arcade games available be "competitive only" since it's a nighttime sports bar after all. Therefore, he sold _Target: Terror_ on eBay to whoever wanted it in their own arcade center. Tournaments will be hosted here occasionally for cash prizes.*

-FIRST FLOOR-  
 _PGA Tour Golf Team Challenge_ \- Global VR and EA Sports; 2006 (updated version of Challenge Edition and based upon EA Sports's _Tiger Woods PGA Tour_ franchise.)  
 _Madden Season 2_ \- Global VR and EA Sports; 2007 (updated version of Global VR's _Madden Football_ with up to 4 players, based on EA Sports' Madden NFL series. The football teams and player rosters in this cabinet are accurate as of 2006-07.)

-BASEMENT-  
 ** _Fast and Furious: Super Cars_** \- Raw Thrills; 2010 (eight single cabinets linked for 8 players; four coins per race)  
 ** _Super Bikes 2_** \- Raw Thrills; 2010 (eight single cabinets linked for 8 players at four coins per race; sequel to _The Fast and the Furious: Super Bikes_ albeit without the F &F license)  
 ** _NASCAR Team Racing_** \- Global VR; 2010 (eight single cabinets linked for 8 players; four coins for one race regardless of the position the players came in at the end.)  
 ** _Big Buck HD_** \- Raw Thrills; 2012 (up to two players can compete in the same hunting season.)  
 ** _Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Unlimited_** \- Namco; 2012 (four coins per credit; imported from Japan as an updated version of _Tekken Tag Tournament_ )  
 ** _Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate_** \- Team Ninja; 2013 (four coins per credit; imported from Japan as an updated version of _Dead or Alive 5_ )  
 ** _Ultra Street Fighter IV_** \- Capcom; 2014 (four coins per credit; imported from Japan)  
 _Heads-Up Challenge_ \- PokerTek (co-branded with the World Series of Poker, this game is the world's first 2-player electronic amusement table with a head-to-head platform in which players utilize buttons and trackballs to play No-Limit Texas Hold'em against each other for bragging rights. Since it's a virtual casino game, coins aren't used here - only dollar bills.)

* * *

 **-Mega-Tastic Retro Entertainment (fan-made location, stationed near Arctic Bomber's apartment in Oakland, CA, located to the east of Diamond City.)-**

*Much like Wario Park's arcade center, the digital realm within is more of a residential area compared to the bustling capital that is Game Central Station, two of which are at Blaze Bomber's Diamond Arcade World and the distant Litwak's Arcade as well.*

*Some say the owner, a pudgy Bomberman named Arcade Bomber, has had an interest in checking out the aforementioned game center in Diamond City ever since Arctic Bomber told him about Blaze Bomber for quite some time. In fact, he used to have _Super Contra_ and _Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road_ long before Blaze ordered them online. Since those two games meant a lot to him, the owner gave Blaze an important message to take good care of them.*

*One day, Blaze Bomber became interested in adding _Neo Bomberman_ to Diamond Arcade World, so he gladly bought it after selling _Cruis'n World_ online. The following day after, Manager Joe did some business with Arcade Bomber by buying _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ , whereas Wario traded in _Donkey Kong 3_ for the 4-player version of _X-Men_. As for Arcade Bomber, he recently bought some more retro games from before the year 2000 that caught his fancy, turning Mega-Tastic Retro Entertainment's digital realm from a town into a city. The only downside, though needless to say, was the fact that a good number of retro games are hard to find these days...*

-BASEMENT-  
 ** _Space Invaders_** \- Taito; 1978  
 _Pac-Man_ \- Namco; 1980  
 _Galaga_ \- Namco; 1981  
 _Donkey Kong_ \- Nintendo; 1981  
 _Donkey Kong Jr._ \- Nintendo; 1982  
 _Dig Dug_ \- Namco; 1982  
 _Fix-It Felix Jr._ \- TobiKomi; 1982 (after hearing about it from Arctic Bomber, the arcade owner became intrigued enough to actually order his own copy despite the lack of the "Q*Bert bonus level.")  
 _Ms. Pac-Man_ \- Namco; 1982  
 _Popeye_ \- Nintendo; 1982 (license granted by King Features Syndicate at the time)  
 ** _Mario Bros._** \- Nintendo; 1983  
 ** _Donkey Kong 3_** \- Nintendo; 1983  
 ** _Punch-Out!_** \- Nintendo; 1984  
 ** _Super Punch-Out!_** \- Nintendo; 1985  
 ** _Arm Wrestling_** \- Nintendo; 1985  
 ** _Gradius_** \- Konami; 1985 (also known as _Nemesis_ in Japan)  
 ** _Bubble Bobble_** \- Taito; 1986  
 ** _Salamander_** \- Konami; 1986 (imported from Japan; also known as _Lifeforce_ worldwide. While it, along with _Salamander 2_ , was a spinoff of _Gradius_ , Arcade Bomber probably preferred the original version because it had a "nice ring" to it.)  
 _Contra_ \- Konami; 1987  
 _Double Dragon_ \- Technos Japan; 1987  
 _Aliens_ \- Konami; 1990

-FIRST FLOOR-  
 _Mortal Kombat II_ \- Midway; 1993 (two coins per credit)  
 _NBA Jam Tournament Edition_ \- Midway; 1993 (while an update to _NBA Jam_ , it shares the same coin regulations as with Midway's other sports installments.)  
 _Super Street Fighter II Turbo_ \- Capcom; 1994 (updated version of _Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers_ )  
 ** _Bubble Symphony_** \- Taito; 1994 (also known as "Bubble Bobble II" in European countries)  
 ** _Space Invaders '95: Attack of the Lunar Loonies_** \- Taito; 1995  
 ** _Salamander 2_** \- Konami; 1996 (imported from Japan)  
 _Sugar Rush_ \- TobiKomi; 1997 (same level of interest Arcade Bomber had with _Fix-It Felix Jr._ , even though the copy he ordered didn't have Vanellope's "glitch" power. At least it wasn't hijacked by Turbo like the one at Litwak's Arcade.)  
 _The House of the Dead_ \- Sega; 1997  
 _Time Crisis II_ \- Namco; 1998 (two coins per credit)  
 ** _Metal Slug X_** \- SNK Playmore; 1999 (updated version of _Metal Slug 2_ )


	2. Prologue

With my updated list of arcade games out of the way, let's begin the third GJA entry. Enjoy!

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph belongs to Disney; and Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games mentioned belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

-Scourge of the Video Arcades-

PROLOGUE

[Opening BGM: Menus (Contra 4)]

In the year 20XX AD, the Earth was at peace thanks to the heroic efforts of the Contras - Aaron, Ami, Bill Rizer, Lance Bean, Blaze Bomber and most recently, Arctic Bomber, the only member to have reformed herself from the past misdeeds she'd committed against the Contras back when she worked for the Hate Bombers. Red Falcon's fourth attempt at world domination, if not its complete destruction, has failed and he, along with his Hate Bombers and the reprogrammed Five Dastardly Bombers were utterly destroyed once and for all, bringing an end to World War III or what the survivors of our planet dubbed as the second-half of the Alien Wars. Countless lives from all over the world had perished just as bad as what had happened a long time ago during World War II, and had it not been for the Contras and their friends and allies alike, the fate of mankind would have been a lot worse.

Though it became clear a few months later during the Vaati incident, that Red Falcon's remnants are alive, the Contras made a vow they'd keep an eye out for any suspicious activities across the planet Earth, be it an attempt by Sniper Bomber, Axe Bomber, Volcano Bomber, Yellow Cobra and Swampster the Terrible to rebuild the Red Falcon Empire or otherwise. Currently they are stuck in limbo when the Contras banished them in the underworld through an existing "Polybius" cabinet in the forbidden "Nethertainment" center, but the heroes knew there may be another banned game cabinet to serve as an interdimensional portal. While life in Diamond City prospered as normal, the Contras were recently assigned to investigate strange activity coming from the Galuga Archipelago, off the coast of New Zealand; accompanying them was Yuffie Kisaragi, a heroic ninja girl who had since lived in Diamond City as Kat and Ana's mentor at the Diamond Dojo, not to mention 9-Volt's guardian angel as well.

The only piece of evidence the six Contras' navigator, Penny Crygor, could pick up from recent news reports worldwide was the fact that Tokyo and Cyber City, located in Japan and Australia respectively, were under attack by what appeared to be demons from hell, robots from space, and even corrupt soldiers. Speaking of corrupt soldiers, it became clear the Red Falcon Empire's remnants had recently recruited the worst kind of scum on Earth - not that the Contras should be surprised. Henceforth, the heroes and their ninja ally departed aboard the Contra Cruiser and the CrygorCopter to thwart the enemy invasions _and_ pay another visit to the Galuga Archipelago, but not before assuring their friends that no scumbag would dare touch Diamond City or any other major city on Earth as long as they're around.

[End BGM]

* * *

[Overworld BGM: Green Greens (Kirby: Triple Deluxe)]

Sometime between Viridi's intervention and the recent news in regard to said alien invasions, the Nintendo Wii U and its games, including WarioWare's _Game & Wario_, were all the rage across the world, let alone Diamond City. In fact, after _Game & Wario_ was released, Blaze Bomber and Penny used half the profits to not only order some other arcade games, but also hire a group of Centurion Strongarms to help them expand their arcade center. Again it is two stories high, only now the "2000 and Beyond" section is split into two separate rooms, the other half being "The Modern Age of 2010s." Of course, Diamond Arcade World wasn't the only one around; other video arcade centers had also brought in different games too. Some were either traded with other vendors; some were ordered online; few others were even purchased from Mega-Tastic Retro Entertainment (located near Arctic Bomber's apartment in Oakland, CA, to the east of Diamond City), owned by a pudgy Bomberman named Arcade Bomber. He has had an interest in checking out Diamond Arcade World ever since Arctic Bomber told him about Blaze Bomber for quite some time. In fact, he used to have _Super Contra_ and _Ivan 'Ironman' Stewart's Super Off Road_ long before Blaze ordered them online. Since those two games meant a lot to him, the owner gave Blaze an important message to take good care of them.

Lately, Blaze Bomber became interested in adding _Neo Bomberman_ to Diamond Arcade World, so he gladly bought it after selling _Cruis'n World_ online. The following day after, Manager Joe did some business with Arcade Bomber by buying _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles_ for Mona Pizza at Mona, 9-Volt, Phoebe, Cheerful White, Cute Pink, Kat and Ana's request, whereas Wario traded in _Donkey Kong 3_ for the 4-player version of _X-Men_. As for Arcade Bomber, he recently bought some more retro games from before the year 2000 that caught his fancy, turning Mega-Tastic Retro Entertainment's digital realm from a town into a city. The only downside, though needless to say, was the fact that a good number of retro games are hard to find these days...

On top of that, Wario heard the news about Blaze Bomber and Penny Crygor hiring a group of Centurion Strongarms from Skyworld to help them expand Diamond Arcade World. He attempted to do the same for Wario Park by selling _Mario Kart Arcade GP_ via eBay in order to get his hands on the more successful _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_ , believing that will help attract more customers since he's got himself a competition now. At first, he thought about buying _Mario Kart Arcade GP DX_ simply for its Double Dash-themed "Fusion Kart" feature in which two players can team up after acquiring a special item, but the moment he fould out it had ten courses as opposed to _Mario Kart Arcade GP 2_ having 16, he settled for the second arcade installment instead. Either he overlooked the fact that _Mario Kart Arcade GP DX_ will make extensive use of downloadable content by gradually having more content added through major yearly updates via Internet connection, or he's just biased towards it not having the Wario Cup - much less the Diamond City and Snow Panic courses - anymore. Regardless, he had Dr. Crygor's worker robots construct a second floor for Wario Park's arcade center to make room for more games that caught his fancy.

* * *

During those days, 9-Volt spent the holiday season forming a game company of his own, called SuperVolt. Helping him run things were Pit, Phosphora, Mona, Kat, Ana, 18-Volt, White, Pink, and especially Phoebe. While they have yet to make their first game together, 9-Volt received a handheld fangame based on _Kid Icarus_ as a Christmas present, programmed by a famous pair of freelance software authors known as the Two Dudes from Skyworld. The game would star Pit and Phosphora as playable characters in a 2D adventure based upon the first two _Kid Icarus_ installments, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. Though unofficial, it supposedly picks up after the recent events of _Kid Icarus: Uprising_ , in which the "star-cross'd lovers" are pitted against the bratty Goddess of Nature, Viridi, and the Forces of Nature. In the end, 9-Volt and his friends had an idea on where they could start, though taking it slow as a first because SuperVolt had just been founded.

As for 9-Volt's two guardian angels and Best Bouncing Ball Buddies from both worlds (Keyla Shasha and Patricia Andrews), they invited the Lower Birth that are residing with the Mistress of Bouncing Balls at Electric Ball Castle, to check out the variety of arcade games brought in at Diamond Arcade World. Keyla, being a Vampire Princess of Roseland, could only play for a short time since the flashes from certain games were not good for her eyes, though she didn't mind trying out _Fix-It Felix Jr._ and _Silver Strike Bowling_. Patricia, on the other hand, played _Sugar Rush_ with Jaclyn Naquin, Violet Thompson and John Roberts. As soon as they noticed Viridi in the game as an NPC from what Patricia told them, Violet thought it would be fun to do something to rile up the bratty Goddess of Nature, but since there aren't any trees to burn down, she settled for blasting her away with Sweet Seekers and Cherry Bombs to earn bonus time.

"Man, that candy go-kart racing game is so stupid..." muttered Steven, the 10-year-old half-demon known for being insane, demonic and mean-spirited who just so happened to have a crush on the Lower Birth's 10-year-old ringleader, Valerie Lucian. "Besides all the color, what do they see in _Sugar Rush_ , anyway?"

That remark earned him a smack upside the head from Valerie. "Be nice to them!"

"Oh, alright..."

"SoyouandKeylaand9-VolthadlotsoffunvisitingGameCentralStationwithyourfriendsawhileback? (So you and Keyla and 9-Volt had lots of fun visiting Game Central Station with your friends a while back?)" babbled Jaclyn, known for her habit of talking really fast.

Patricia nodded. "Yep! Of course, Jac. Well, after we saved Disneyland, but still, it's not bad once you get to know the digital realm itself."

"Hey, uh, I don't mean to interrupt," said John, "but don't you usually have Heaven's Light with you?"

"Oh, it's at 9-Volt's house; he and Phoebe are taking good care of it for the holiday season. Us Bouncing Ball Buddies made a promise to share it and give great care."

"What sort of hidden powers do you think it has?" asked Violet.

"Somethingangelic,that'sforsure! (Something angelic, that's for sure!)" blabbed Jaclyn.

The 8-year-old Mistress of Bouncing Balls replied, "If what Ms. Perivelle told me is true, it should be just that. Too bad that spoiled brat Viridi inadvertently let Purple Basilisk and his followers out when she put Diamond City into a weird condition..."

"Well, look on the bright side," assured Violet. "At least we can have fun heckling _her_ while we're playing _Sugar Rush_!"

"Hee hee," giggled Patricia. "It was also fun giving Icy, Darcy and Stormy a new makeover on their hair a while back. Believe me, they look a whole LOT better this way!"

[End BGM]

* * *

[Interlude BGM: Boss Prelude (Kirby's Return to Dream Land)]

But little did everyone, let alone 9-Volt's guardian angels, in Diamond City know there also existed what was known to be the scourge of video arcades; a company infamous for churning out bad games at the distant Litwak's Arcade in the past. That company came to be run by a pair of siblings, apparently jealous of 9-Volt's success in having founded SuperVolt...

"First, Litwak's Arcade, then Blaze Bomber's Diamond Arcade World..." Rudy Macrohard, the 12-year-old CEO of a disreputable game company from another world known as Purifying Programs Interactive (PPI). Despite its name and slogan "Purifying the Video Arcades of Evilly Jealous Games since the 90s", it's rather infamous for churning out awful games. Rudy considered himself better than 9-Volt at everything and looks up to Palutena and Viridi.

"And last but not least, the entire video arcade community of planet Earth!" Rudeena Macrohard, Rudy's 11-year-old sister, was not only a vice president of Purifying Programs Interactive (PPI), but also leads a group of all-female enforcers called the Princesses of Corporal Punishment to protect him and their company against any form of criticism. Both siblings were selfish and looked down on 9-Volt by calling him a coward despite the kindness he gives his guardian angels.

[End BGM]

END PROLOGUE

* * *

Whatever the Macrohard siblings are scheming, it obviously screams "trouble" over the horizon!


	3. Strangers from another dimension

Oh my gosh, I am SO sorry I let myself completely, and I mean COMPLETELY, forget to keep tabs on my FanFiction profile whenever I post a new chapter for a current story on DeviantART. But boy am I glad I remembered to check back in...

Then again, old habits die hard sometimes. On the bright side, however, I'm happy to have finally found my place in video game design that I've been searching for a long time. I will say this: my three-year search is over. Though it's not technically a job, it's still a training process that I am to go through. In other words, I'm gonna have a pretty busy schedule in the daytime (all the while holding onto my part-time job at the Walmart store for just a little longer). I'll try not to forget to keep tabs on my FanFiction activities, but as always, I can't promise anything. Now, with that out of the way, let's begin.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph belongs to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Strangers from another dimension

JANUARY 4, 20XX...

[Briefing BGM: Alliance Assembly - Arranged Excerpt (Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader)]

"You guys are now over the eastern, coastal side of Japan," Penny Crygor spoke with her headset at Crygor Labs, "where the recent attacks are said to be taking place. What's your situation there?"

Bill's voice came on, _Aaron, Ami, Lance and I are about to make the drop-off here, while Arctic's gonna accompany Blaze and Yuffie to deal with the alien attacks in Cyber City, Australia. Can you offer us support?_

"Okay. I've already asked my granddad to call someone we know to fill in temporarily at Diamond Arcade World until we're able to resolve the situation. In the meantime, I've got the power-up generator ready to send you the usual weapons from time to time."

 _Thanks, Pen,_ sounded Lance's voice. _And it looks like the news reports were dead-on: Tokyo and Cyber City are being attacked by demons from the underworld, skeletal robots that look like mass-produced T-800s from the Terminator movies, and even corrupt human soldiers. Something fishy's going on and I don't like this one bit, but we'll check it out anyways._

"Just remember, you guys haven't thwarted any global-scale invasions in a while since World War III, so try not to get too wild and bite off more than you can chew."

 _Don't worry, Penny; we'll be careful. Let's hope things don't get too hectic that we have to rely upon Godzilla for the job. Bill Rizer of the good Contras, signing off._ The radio went silent afterwards, while Penny made a phone call.

 _Hello?_ came Mona's voice.

"Hi, it's me, Penny. I won't be able to make it to 9-Volt's house and help you guys out with that SuperVolt company he started recently, but let him know I said hi, okay?"

 _Sure thing, Pen. How are the Contras doing?_

"They're doing okay; just getting started on their mission to stop the attacks on Japan and Australia. Yuffie's accompanying them to provide support with her ninjutsu and White Magic in case something goes wrong, and I'll be monitoring their progress from the lab as usual. Whatever the three Hate Bombers have planned, you can bet they're deadset on rebuilding the Red Falcon Empire by any means necessary."

 _No doubt about it, especially with Sniper Bomber at the helm on behalf of their dead leader, Red Falcon. As for ourselves, Pit and Phosphora are there at the moment, and so's Keyla, Patricia, Cherry...I dunno about Wario. Probably busy playing the recently-released Super Smash Bros. for Wii U at his house. Well, I'll let you get back to work._

"Alrighty. Bye, Mona!" Penny hung up the phone. "Good thing I already got Arctic's former rival, King Billy Bling, running our arcade center in Diamond City. I'm glad they're back on good terms despite their one-time clash at his castle-like home in Hollywood. Apparently, he's intrigued by the place ever since she and the others saved it from Purple Basilisk's crazy campaign."

[End BGM]

* * *

[Meeting BGM: File Select (Kirby Squeak Squad)]

"Oooh, I know what! One of the microgames can be about a young princess who must defeat a black knight with her trusty bowling ball to save her best friend, the young prince!"

"Easy there, Keyla," said Patricia. "Like Mona said, creativity counts, and we all gotta start somewhere, but your idea sounds decent. Another microgame could involve a talented young girl watering a garden during her ball-walking performance within the allotted time. Kinda like one of Kat and Ana's Nature-themed microgames, but with my style added in."

"Or perhaps a microgame, kinda like _Bomberman_ , except you use Bob-ombs to defeat Wario and Waluigi without blowing yourself up," suggested Phoebe.

"That'd be great!" whooped 9-Volt.

"Hope it all goes well in the long run," said Pit.

Phosphora placed her wrist on his head in a playful manner. "Hey, no need to worry, Pit. Unlike Wario, 9-Volt gives great care to both his company, SuperVolt, and the employees that work with him."

"Yeah, I know that. You and I are among the first to help him start the company from inside his house."

Phoebe added, "And mine, too, since we're both next-door neighbors."

Mona listed the others also present at 9-Volt's house, "Then there's also Kat, Ana, 18-Volt, White, Pink, and especially me, which makes about ten of us altogether. As for Keyla, Patricia and Cherry, they're merely volunteering to give a suggestion or two, so they don't count...at least for now. We'll think about it."

"It's all good, Mona," smiled Cherry. "Though I'd love for a microgame to involve sneaking down on Viridi the Brat from above and setting her hair on fire without getting caught. Or better yet, dodging Palutena's attacks as either Pit or Dark Pit and knocking her away, Super Smash Bros. style! Seriously, for someone with a freakishly-long green hair who calls herself the Goddess of Light, she's too overpowered for her own good!"

"Yupado," said Phoebe. "Sooo...any plans on what we want our first game to be, 9-Volt?"

"It's a little early, so I dunno yet. Maybe-"

[Interrupt BGM]

Just then, an explosion went off at the front door to the house, revealing a group of female underlings ironically clad in pink princess dresses, all led by two unknown strangers from another dimension! 9-Volt and his friends quickly ran to the front entrance, ready to defend themselves, for he gathered his Phosphora Bow and Twinbellows Cannon; Phoebe with her Ball Cannon; White bearing his Wolf Claws; and Pink arming her Aquarius Blade.

[Alert BGM: Here Comes Trouble! (Banjo-Tooie)]

"So, you are the famous 9-Volt who made these Nintendo-themed microgames for the WarioWare games, eh?" The 12-year-old boy, clad in orange with his reddish hair standing up on the front end. "I am Rudy Macrohard, CEO of Purifying Programs Interactive; our slogan is 'Purifying the Video Arcades of Evilly Jealous Games since the 90s'...heh heh heh...care to guess what the evilly jealous ones and their respective companies are?"

"I've heard of you guys!" shouted Phosphora. "You and your parents tried to monopolize the market firstly by saturating Litwak's Arcade with a bunch of bad games you've been churning out over the years!"

Pit noted, though keeping his Angel Bow at the ready, "Bad games and ripoffs alike, to be exact. Pig Man and Ms. Pig Man, the ripoffs of _Pac-Man_ and _Ms. Pac-Man_..."

Phoebe added, "And let's not forget those other bad games my king dad banished to Video Game Nightmare back in my homeworld: Super Kasumi Ninja, Fashion Divaz Racing...ugh, and even that Bomberman-ripoff called Booming Klowns..."

Rudy stuck out his tongue retortedly. "You're all just jealous that our games are better than the ones you enjoy playing! We aim to get rich quick, unlike 9-Volt here who's all 'I give great care to my microgames' or whatever rubbish you thrive...which is why we have come to take him away to work for us, whether he likes it or not! Besides, I'm just better than him at every video game he likes to play."

"You're not taking our friend away, period!"

"You wanna refuse to surrender him to our company, fine by me, angel dorko, because I was planning on taking you all back to your childhood anyway! See this raygun I got?" Rudy pointed at the aforementioned gadget in his right hand. "Inspired by Commander Borf's Infanto Ray from _Space Ace_ , only this baby's real! Before I do away with you, I'd like to thank all of you for volunteering to help me test my patented Age-Reverso Ray - courtesy of my inventive parents, of course. Those who dare defy PPI and/or bash the great Goddess of Nature, Viridi, will be going nowhere but bye-bye! Yeah that's right, I heard you butted heads with her not once, but twice! As much as I hate doing my own dirty work, I'll be happy to infantize the likes of you if necessary to avenge Viridi's humiliating defeat."

Kat brandished her katana, with Ana doing the same for her own. "We've had enough of your attitude, Rudy!"

"My sister's right, so leave 9-Volt and the rest of us alone this instant!"

"Ana, Ana, Ana...You think I'd be crazy enough to face you and your twin sister and everybody else in this house without my backup? Like I said before, I hate doing my own dirty work, but that doesn't mean I don't like having fun humiliating you dweebs. Meet my loyal enforcers, the Princesses of Corporal Punishment! My sister, Rudeena, is their leader. Rudeena, if you may?"

Rudy's 11-year-old sister, donning a pink knee-length dress with armor-like gloves, stepped in. "Come along quietly, if you wanna avoid becoming infantized!"

"No way!" Pit flew in to battle her, only to be tackled down with little effort by the Princesses of Corporal Punishment. They held him steady so Rudy could fire his Age-Reverso Ray at the angel boy, but 9-Volt gasped in jumped in front of his friend, hoping to take him to safety.

Phosphora gasped. "9-Volt, no!" Unfortunately, she was a millisecond too late as both boys were hit by the ray, and turned into helpless toddlers instantly with 9-Volt's helmet, Phosphora Bow and Twinbellows Cannon on the ground.

Rudy scratched his head momentarily. "Hmmm...not exactly what I had in mind, but at least we still have the two programmers from another world we desire for our games."

Patricia picked up a crying 9-Volt and cuddled him gingerly. "Aw, it's okay, 9-Volt. I'm right here for you..." She stared daggers at the Macrohards. "Are you two crazy?! You just made poor 9-Volt cry, all because you're jealous of his small-time company!"

"Look at that goody-two-shoes of a coward 9-Volt," taunted Rudeena. "He now runs a game company all his own, yet he doesn't choose power like we do. HA! That's what he gets for thinking he and his guardian angels and friends alike can stand up to PPI! Now if you'll excuse us, we need to say 'hello' to Wreck-It Ralph and his posse within your Diamond City's digital realm, should they even think about responding in kind."

[End BGM]

* * *

As the co-leaders walked off with their followers in tow, Patricia growled in anger before calming down to cheer 9-Volt up. "Aww, it's okay, sweetie...iiit's okay..." She kissed his head a few times to emphasize her words. "Your fair Princess of Electric Ball Castle's here. Shhh..." While she wasn't _really_ a princess like Keyla or Phoebe or even Cherry for that matter, she didn't mind calling herself just that if it's to help him stop crying.

"And Keyla, too," stated the Vampire Princess of Roseland.

Phosphora, on the other hand, picked Pit up in her arms for a cradle. "It'll be alright, sweetie. I'll spank those jerks that did this to you and 9-Volt, I promise." She kissed his head, prior to closing her eyes to sing a lullaby, similar to the one she sang to 9-Volt due to the traumatizing nightmare he had shortly after the end of World War III. Only now, she needed not use her lightning powers to erase any bad thoughts from Pit's mind.

 _Hush, little Pit, don't say a word  
Phosphora's gonna buy you a mockingbird_

 _And if that mockingbird don't sing_  
 _Phosphora's gonna make you a ball lightning_

 _And if that ball don't bounce or stay lit_  
 _Phosphora's gonna light another that bounces like it should_

 _And if another ball bursts or fizzles out_  
 _Phosphora's gonna take you bowling without a doubt_

 _And if that bowling ball don't knock the pins down_  
 _You'll still be the sweetest little friend in town_

"Ph...Phosphy..." Pit smiled.

"That's right, Pit. Your girlfriend's gonna getcha back to normal as soon as we get that ray from Rudy and Rudeena."

Meanwhile, Cute Pink noticed Patricia's warm affection and wondered, "You seem a lot more kindhearted and caring to 9-Volt than ever before, and yet you used to be...different."

"He helped me come back to the good side by showing me his kindness, though our first meeting was no excuse for how I acted that time. I guess I sorta delayed his efforts by not taking them into heart right away, ever since Valerie raised us Lower Birth kids to do all sorts of bad things...But then one day Ms. Perivelle gave me an important gift because she believed some good still existed within me."

"That came to be the big, white bouncy ball named Heaven's Light," added Keyla.

"Precisely. Throughout most of October and the construction of Electric Ball Castle, I've never gone to bed without holding it closer to me, thinking back to Ms. Perivelle's words on how coming together with two special friends, an ordinary young boy and a strange yet friendly girl whose powers differ from mine, would unlock its hidden powers. I eventually took 9-Volt's words into heart, and started warming up to him by sharing my...no, _our_ bouncy ball. We, along with Keyla, would coin ourselves the Best Bouncing Ball Buddies, while he later did the same for Phoebe because he didn't want to leave her out of the ball-balancing fun."

Keyla took a moment to recite what Patricia had shared with her and 9-Volt one time. "Two angels, both kindhearted yet with different powers, coming from other worlds to befriend and care for a pure-hearted young boy...When they treat Heaven's Light and each other with great care and kindness, it will unlock hidden powers for both girls. So it must really mean you and me after all, Pat."

"Mm-hmm. Let's walk back inside and figure out what to do. Ms. Perivelle has always kept her promise that she would watch over me and my friends in spirit." The Mistress of Bouncing Balls led the way alongside Keyla.

"9-Volt's mom isn't gonna like this..." sighed Cheerful White, prompting his best friend to pat his shoulder.

"I know, but it's better if she found out from us now than too late," assured Pink.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Thus begins the first encounter with the troublesome duo, claiming themselves to be better than 9-Volt and Phoebe at everything.


	4. Two Princesses and a Baby

Since I'm already up to the fourth chapter in GJA #3, excluding the prologue, it may seem to you that I am going a little fast. But only because I'm catching up to match my current progress on said story via DeviantART. All in all, I'd like to thank you for your patience.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Two Princesses and a Baby, and Heaven's Light

An hour later, 5-Volt had just returned home to check on 9-Volt since she was informed of the incident; no doubt she was shocked and mad that someone would do such a thing to him. But before Phoebe and the others could explain, 5-Volt rushed off to Wario's house with the assumption that WarioWare's current CEO stole one of Ashley's potions and infantized 9-Volt out of sheer jealousy just because he founded SuperVolt. Not a moment too soon did she reach Wario's house and kicked the door open with a loud roar in an effort to scare that mean jerk into surrendering...only to realize he wasn't here at the moment.

"Ohhh, just where is that inconsiderate jerk of a president?!" she muttered to herself. "Of all the crazy antics he's ever pulled, I can't believe he would do something like that to my only son just because...UGH! No wonder Mario and Luigi don't like him and Waluigi very much...If I ever get my hands on Wario, I oughta spank him so hard that..."

The brunette stormed out of the house and back into her car to turn on the radio, so as to calm herself down. However, a news report came on instead of her favorite classic rock tunes. _This just in: we've received word that the famous pair of freelance software authors, known as the Two Dudes from Skyworld, are being held prisoner against their will by the infamous Purifying Programs Interactive, forced to make bad games for the company. However, the current CEO of PPI, Rudy Macrohard, had been unavailable for comment since all attempts to contact him are in vain. Nobody knows where this company is located nor what Rudy intended to do with 9-Volt, co-founder of the recently-formed SuperVolt. This is Ken, reporting live on Diamond News Network._

[Overworld BGM: Ahead on Our Way (Final Fantasy VII)]

"So Wario _never_ did it...?" 9-Volt's mother came to a realization that she jumped to conclusions, though she only meant to make sure no further harm came upon him. Therefore, she drove back to her house and apologized, prior to telling the others what she heard on the news.

"Hey, I know those two authors from Skyworld!" Phosphora snapped her fingers to emphasize her sentence. "Pit and I have been friends with them for a long time, and even volunteered to help them test the arcade games they programmed under TobiKomi's supervision." She noticed her infantized boyfriend frowning at what PPI had done to the two authors and turned her focus over to comforting him. "Shhh, don't cry, Pit. Our friends will save them while I take care of you and 9-Volt."

"Phoebe and I will help you and 5-Volt out," said Cherry.

18-Volt, on the other hand, declined her offer. "No, Cherry. I stay here and help Phoebe look after my li'l buddy. Besides, you got this cool fire magic and even shared it with him."

The Chi Princess of the Fruit Kingdom thought for a moment, smiling warmly in the end. "Alright. I'll be careful." She volunteered to hold 9-Volt's Phosphora Bow while 18-Volt put the Twinbellows Cannon and Pit's Angel Bow in a safe place.

"Mona, I'd like you to borrow my Ball Cannon for a while," said Phoebe, offering her Skyworld-enchanted weapon. "Besides, I know how much you love bowling."

9-Volt's "big sister" giggled, adding jokingly, "If that's the case, I'll bowl 'em over for you and 9-Volt before you know it!" Then she turned over to Phosphora, who was feeding Pit a bottle of milk. "Will you be alright staying here?"

"Of course, Mona. I won't let any mean-spirited jerk break into your little brother's house as long as I'm around. Now go spank Rudy and Rudeena as hard as you can for me and 9-Volt's mom, 'kay?" The Lightning Flash offered a handshake, which Mona gladly accepted. "But try to come back alive, 'cuz you and I have a friendly bowling match at the Bowling Kingdom in two days."

"The bowling alley that Liir and the other vampires of Roseland built for Keyla, eh? Sounds good, and you're on, Phos."

Pit looked up at the blonde girl out of curiosity as to what's going on. "Don't worry, Pit. Mona and I just wanna show each other what we're capable of; we're like friendly rivals at a bowling alley. When it's over, and you and 9-Volt are back to normal, I promise we'll all have a bowling party, and maybe even play _Mario Party_ afterwards. No rivalries and stuff; just one big happy family playing together." She looked over at 9-Volt with a sweet smile. "Does that sound good to you, sweetie?"

The infantized 9-Volt babbled happily, prompting his guardian angel to kiss his head. "In the meantime," said Patricia, "Keyla and I will be coming with Mona, White, Pink, Kat and Ana to find out where this evil game company is located. We'll start by heading into the digital realm within Blaze Bomber's Diamond Arcade World to see if Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun can help us."

"I'm coming, too," chirped Cherry. "But what happens if we're too late?"

"Then we'll head over to Electric Ball Castle and see if my friends from the Lower Birth can help. Valerie taught us all she knew about infiltration and spying on others; maybe she can volunteer! Or perhaps Violet, John, or Jaclyn...I dunno about Steven."

Keyla added, "We'll take the chance if something goes wrong. That Rudy jerk better not have done something bad to Ralph and his friends too!" Her hissing sound caused 9-Volt to moan to the point of crying, prompting her to hold him and kiss his cheeks a few times. "Shhh...it's okay, 9-Volt. Patricia and I will always protect you, no matter what..." She kissed him again and rubbed his head affectionately, calming him down.

Patricia used her electric powers to enchant Heaven's Light, causing it to float like a balloon in midair. Her powers enabled her to keep it from floating up too high or being blown away like with all the other ordinary balloons; therefore it would always stay close to its user no matter what happens. Then an electrical "string" materialized on the bottom of the enchanted ball, which Keyla and Patricia grabbed to see how it felt. Because her electric powers never hurt her friends, the "string" was harmless to the touch, albeit a bit ticklish. 9-Volt touched it out of curiosity too, laughing happily as the "string" tickled him.

"Aww, how sweet!" cooed Keyla. "Even our bouncy ball wants to protect you too, 9-Volt!"

"Well, we _are_ the Best Bouncing Ball Buddies, Keyla," assured Patricia. "And it's the magic within Heaven's Light that enables it to be our guide as we go..." Just then, the ball glowed brightly with a golden aura, releasing an apparition of an angel in white as it maintained its spherical shape.

[End BGM]

"Look, Heaven's Light is glowing!"

"Maybe it's reacting to our powers?"

"Could be...Hey, is that...?"

"...Ms. Perivelle?"

[Friendship BGM: Prelude - Title Theme (Final Fantasy IV)]

As Keyla and Patricia exchanged words, they were surprised to see the "balloon" reacting to them, though Phoebe believed it might be due to their kindness. Perhaps their friendship with each other had grown so strong; either way they held it up high with a smile as it sent a series of magic sparkles around their bodies. Keyla's current outfit was magically transformed into her white angel dress that she and 9-Volt had seen before, only now it sported an image of a black bowling ball striking some pins up front on her chest. Patricia, on the other hand, was granted a blue angel dress with a decoration of an orange bouncy ball, which had a lightning bolt in its center.

Everyone in the house, including 5-Volt, believed that Heaven's Light was no ordinary bouncy ball like all the other ones in toy stores and at Electric Ball Castle; perhaps it just happened to grant angel-like powers to any female who had shown great care towards each other and the ball. As soon as Keyla and Patricia's transformation was complete, it stopped glowing a golden aura, showing no signs of exploding at all. Finally, the angel-like apparition came down to the two girls as if to explain what happened, while Patricia recognized it as none other than Ms. Perivelle.

 _Greetings. Don't worry, your Heaven's Light is perfectly safe with no signs of exploding; it is merely indestructible yet still big, soft and bouncy. When the two of you held onto it, I sensed your powers and revealed myself before you in spirit; I am Ms. Perivelle. Keyla, the Vampire/Bowling Princess of Roseland...Patricia, the Mistress of Bouncing Balls and kindhearted Princess of Electric Ball Castle...Because you have shown kindness from time to time after one of you repented for your past misdeeds, in addition to resisting all temptations of jealousy toward each other over your friend 9-Volt, you have both qualified as benevolent angels. In short, I have granted you the angelic powers based upon your interests...And now, I'll explain everything you need to know about Heaven's Light._

Keyla and Patricia listened on, all the while 9-Volt couldn't help but stare at Ms. Perivelle's apparition. _Long ago...when I founded my Home for Children, I used my magic to create the ball you now possess before you, for all the kids to play with. While it can only be used for good and all sorts of playtime, I had also encouraged the children to give great care in many ways they could imagine - sharing, for example - and act out a role that two young princesses are willing to set their differences aside to protect a young prince as guardian angels. I believe that it doesn't always have to be the boys protecting girls. As for how Heaven's Light differs from all the other ordinary bouncy balls, let alone big ones, the magic within the roundness of its shape protects it from "aging" or being destroyed; therefore no air is needed to be pumped in like with all the other bouncy balls simply to maintain the spherical shape. Regardless, my magic allows the ball to acquire its powers from the children who used to play with it at the Home, accumulating into angelic powers...for you see, the source is love and friendship from those who enjoy playing with bouncy balls, no matter the size._

The apparition paused momentarily to smile at the Best Bouncing Ball Buddies. _Keyla, Patricia, when you shared your interests with each other, you fulfilled half the prophecy, and by taking care of your friend 9-Volt when something bad happened, you've finally unlocked the angelic powers hidden within Heaven's Light. Keyla, you have the power to cheer up people with her drawings, singing, and dancing; Patricia, your ability to encourage people to strive forth and become the best they can be, will have no bounds. Remember...with great power comes great responsibility. Use them along with your bowling and ball-balancing abilities very well, and you will lead your friends on the quest to right the wrong that was inflicted upon Diamond City. The people you have come to know in Game Central Station are in danger as we speak, but even though I am quite old, I will continue watching over you in spirit. May you bounce in peace..._ With that, Ms. Perivelle's apparition disappeared in a bright, golden light, while Heaven's Light remained enchanted as a "balloon" until Patricia would choose to revert it back to normal.

[End BGM]  
[Overworld BGM: Hoohoo Village (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)]

"And may you continue to encourage the children of the future to be good..." said Patricia, "...Ms. Perivelle. Now I understand what you told me when you left Heaven's Light in my care."

"Mm-hmm," agreed Keyla. "Now c'mon, Pat...we have a mission to fulfill together. If the Sailor Scouts can magically transform and right wrongs, so can we Best Bouncing Ball Buddies. Let's defeat Rudy and Rudeena for 9-Volt and all our friends. Phoebe, we're leaving him in your care until we return."

"You can count on me, fellas," acknowledged the Bomberman fangirl with a salute. "White, Pink, watch their backs as they watch yours."

"No problem!" beamed Cheerful White.

"We're on our way!" added Cute Pink.

Mona added her two cents, "Yuffie's too busy with the six Contras on their mission to stop Sniper Bomber, Axe Bomber and Volcano Bomber from rebuilding the Red Falcon Empire in the Galuga Archipelago, off the coast of New Zealand, so it's all up to the eight of us to cope without the aid of her White Magic for a while."

White suggested, "Maybe Princess Sofia can help us if we have to visit her kingdom in another world, through the Disneyland arcade game."

But Pink had doubts about her best friend's idea. "She could, but I wouldn't count on her too much to know the exact whereabouts of this PPI company."

Before the group left the house, Keyla opened up her backpack and let out five of Patricia's bouncy balls, each bearing a different color consisting of pink, blue, yellow, orange and black. "Never leave without packing your stuff with the help of the Bottomless Pit spell. I am part-witch, after all."

"Nice! You really are amazing with your magic," beamed Cherry, "but what's the deal with your balls?"

"Something to help Phoebe, Phosphora and 5-Volt keep 9-Volt and Pit company while we're out," answered Patricia. "That way, 9-Volt will feel as though Keyla and I are right next to him, playing catch and stacking balls on top of each other."

Contrary to her words, 9-Volt felt saddened that she and Keyla had to leave for a while. "Aww, don't cry, sweetie. I would never leave you out, and besides, Phoebe's also our Best Bouncing Ball Buddy. Here, this'll help." The Mistress of Bouncing Balls closed her eyes to concentrate her powers on her five balls, enchanting them into balloons like she did with Heaven's Light. "Balloons can keep a child happy, especially when they're shaped like bouncy balls...My parents used to give me one when I was three years old, just days before we were all chased out of our village and they..." She held back her tears, so as to not ruin the moment. "Shhh. Everything's gonna be okay, 9-Volt. I won't let our story end like mine, I promise."

"Why don't you sing him a lullaby, Pat?"

"Of course, Keyla. My parents used to sing this to me when I was little..." The "princess" of Electric Ball Castle remained positive as she began to sing:

[End BGM]

 _Bounce the ball, bounce the ball  
On the ground, against the wall.  
Bounce it low, bounce it high,  
Bounce it right up to the sky!_

 _Bounce the ball, bounce the ball,_  
 _On the ground, against the wall._  
 _Bounce it here, bounce it there,_  
 _Bounce it outside anywhere!_

 _Bounce the ball, bounce the ball,_  
 _On the ground, against the wall._  
 _This one rule you must abide:_  
 _Please don't bounce your ball inside!_

Contrary to the last lines in the song's lyrics, Patricia found it fun to bounce balls inside, just as long as she played it safe and responsibly. Now it was Cherry's turn to cuddle 9-Volt affectionately, her red princess dress making him feel comfy and extra-safe, as she put it. "Big smile now...you can do it...almost got it...there we go! We'll show those Princesses of Corporal Punishment the true meaning of girl power, just you wait and see." She flexed her muscles to emphasize her point, and kissed 9-Volt's head.

It was time to venture once more into Game Central Station via Diamond Arcade World, with Patricia's back-up plan still in mind.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

As we end this chapter, I'll let you in on a little secret: my friend JapanAnimeGirl and I discussed some time ago on how I could make Heaven's Light very useful to the protagonists in my stories since we both came up with it together. I did bring up the enchanted bouncy ball in the earlier GJA entries, albeit keeping its full potential a secret as intended, until the time was right.


	5. Journey back to Disneyland

The following chapter may bring back memories of _Yoshi's Island DS_ , the moment you see what becomes of Wario...

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Journey back to Disneyland

Elsewhere, deep beneath Diamond City and its digital realm, Purple Basilisk and his Chaotic Bombers were _not_ having fun reconstructing his underworld hideout into Icy's wintry castle. To add insult to injury, he wasn't even allowed to revive Boxer Bomber and Siren Bomber (who had been destroyed a few months back when Vaati was around) as they were "grounded" from being brought back to life until "further notice."

"Ohhh, I would give anything to run this place again..." muttered Purple Basilisk. "What's next, I'm to let the Trix witches win at every game they feel like playing?!"

"I'll say," added Trigger Bomber. "Warlock's supposed to be our 'inspiration', yet he spends a lot of his free time playing chess like it's serious business!"

"Apparently they let him practice his chess skills on the condition that he win cash prizes at tournaments for them to buy all kinds of makeup with," assumed Mosquito Bomber. "But where does that lead us? They know darn well mosquitoes can't stand the cold for too long!"

"Bah! I say we return to Disneyland and pay a visit to this Enchancia to get our hands on whatever we need!" Purple Basilisk pulled out a library book and continued, "Legend has it that the Amulet of Avalor summons a princess to aid its bearer, so instead of pirating its magic, we'll tamper with the amulet itself to bring Turbo back instead. That wimpy sorcerer Cedric couldn't do it, but anything he can cast, Warlock can cast better - for I tell no lie! Ralph and his dorky friends will surely cry!...wait, bad choice of words in a rhyme, but ah, who gives a hoot?"

"Wait a minute...That girly amulet with its deus ex machina powers again?! With all due respect, you saw how it almost killed Warlock Bomber with his own reflected Flare spell!"

"That we're gonna correct shortly, Mosquito...Now, where was that interdimensional teleporter you were working on again?"

* * *

[Fight BGM: Chasing Down the Miniboss (Kirby: Triple Deluxe)]

"Seriously, I did NOT come all the way to volunteer at Blaze's Diamond Arcade World just to be harassed by those jerks I've heard about!"

The African-American "leader" of the self-titled Money Dynasty and Arctic Bomber's one-time rival, King Billy Bling, could not believe the PPI army would set their sights on the arcade center in Diamond City of all places he'd been to. For as long as he could remember, he was once conned into playing some of their bad arcade games in Hollywood back when Rudy and Rudeena's parents were still directly in charge. He had since sworn to stick to console games at home, but he could not forget the time they also saturated Litwak's Arcade with said bad games.

"I thought you guys were banished shortly after numerous reports came in that you'd been ripping people off left and right!"

"Oh, we were..." said Rudy, "but not anymore! Now let us do as we please, unless you wanna end up like ol' stubborn mule over there..." He pointed directly at what used to be Wario, now a 4-year-old toddler with his "W" hat on and a pair of diapers. "When Rudeena and I were kids, our parents were super-rich, running our family business without any problems, but then Mickey and Minnie just had to butt in and banish us from Disneyland for quote unquote, 'making a cesspool out of Litwak's Arcade'!"

"They sent us to an isolated, faraway place in Enchancia, thinking it would re-educate us into a bunch of goody-two-shoes," Rudeena added with disgust, "but there's no way we're attending that Royal Prep Academy! Too goody-goody for our blood, that's for sure!"

"That's all we wanna know," came Mona's voice, causing the Macrohards to gasp in fright.

"D'aaagh! It's that nosy redhead 9-Volt looks up to as his big sister! Rudeena, take care of this!" Rudy teleported himself into Game Central Station, leaving Rudeena and her Princesses of Corporal Punishment to deal with the nuisance at hand.

"You of all people should know it's rude to eavesdrop on others," Rudeena reminded mockingly. "Sure, you now know we're doing our business in Enchancia, but where exactly...not gonna tell ya diddly!"

White and Pink jumped in first, firing charged shots from their Wolf Claws and Aquarius Blade toward Rudeena's all-female minions to inflict damage, giving Mona enough cover to pick up her infantized boyfriend. "Patricia, I'm beginning to think you're right: we may have to get help from the Lower Birth at Electric Ball Castle...especially if Vanellope's fellow racers from Sugar Rush are also affected."

"I'm afraid they've also been affected," warned King Billy.

"King Billy Bling? I heard you and Arctic once butted heads a while back, and..."

"Yeah, but it didn't take much to realize that we were both wrong to be greedy and take each other's riches. Ever since you guys kicked Red Falcon's butt, I swore to never swipe other people's treasures again! Anyway, I overheard the Macrohards turned all of Vanellope's fellow racers into toddlers, and all because she and her three best friends wouldn't let them do as they please with Game Central Station and Diamond City. Ohh, the nerve of those jerks, just like their high-horse parents!"

In the meantime, Kat and Ana jumped around Rudeena with the help of their ninja skills, dodging each and every shot from her brother's Age-Reverso Ray. "Aaargh, quit your jumping around and get with the program already!" Despite their best efforts to distract her, she pulled off a lucky shot that turned them into infants. "Ugh, FINALLY. I swear, you're just as annoying as Sofia's goody-two-shoes attitude! I think I've done enough damage anyways, so...toodles!" She teleported herself and her minions out of the scene.

[End BGM]

"Something tells me we're in for a LOT of babysitting..." White sighed in defeat "Sorry, guys, but I'm afraid Pink and I are gonna have to sit this one out, and maybe call in our friends from planet Bomber to help the Lower Birth with all this babysitting and stuff..."

"At least until we can defeat the Macrohards at their own game and capture their loony-as-heck invention," agreed Pink. "So...you're welcome to borrow my Aquarius Blade and White's Wolf Claws if you want. We'll just look after Kat and Ana in the meantime..."

"Make sure their sensei knows what's going on," suggested Cherry. "I'm certain he won't mind letting you stay at Diamond Dojo to babysit them. As soon as we drop Wario off at 9-Volt's house, I'll hold onto the Twinbellows Cannon this time."

* * *

"So lemme get this straight: you want me AND Valerie to spy on these PPI goons we barely even know about, while everyone else babysits the victims inside Electric Ball Castle? No wonder the _Sugar Rush_ kids were too easily defeated!"

"Steven, be nice," warned Valerie, smacking him upside the head. "You remember that I trained all of you to be able to spy on others without being seen, and relay whatever information you find. Given the situation Keyla and Patricia told us about, you and I will volunteer to go to Enchancia and pretend we're joining their company."

"What kinda stupid name for a kingdom is Enchancia anyway? Besides all the flowers and royal kids learning about proper behavior and having fun with their friends..."

Keyla sighed in frustration at Steven's stubborn attitude, but Patricia gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Pleeeaase, Steven? For me and my Best Bouncing Ball Buddies? I promise that Keyla and I will buy you the best and scariest Halloween costume for next October."

The half-demon groaned in annoyance at Patricia's begging, only to give in from having to look at her sad face. Scary and insane as he usually was, he couldn't turn down a fellow Lower Birth's request without upsetting Valerie too, for she admittedly wanted the best for them despite the bad things they used to do long ago. "Fine, I'll do it for you and your Best Bouncing Ball Buddies."

"Aaand?" interrupted Keyla.

Steven groaned again, rolling his eyes upward. "And especially 9-Volt. Happy now?"

"YAY!" The little vampire jumped up and down in a cheerful manner.

"Let's not get too excited, Keyla. I'm only going along with your plan so we won't have to be stuck babysitting your victimized friends all the time!"

"If you go with me, I promise I'll give you a kiss," said Valerie.

"Hmm...sounds good." His friend pretended to kiss him, but then punched him at the last second. As Jaclyn and the other Freakshow kids happily agreed to babysit the victimized _Sugar Rush_ racers, Keyla, Patricia, Cherry and Mona could only hope Wario wasn't as stubborn like Steven in his child years...

* * *

"You're not the boss of me! You're not the boss of me!" The infantized Wario taunted 5-Volt in a singsong voice, much to her annoyance. He ran around the kitchen in her house, stopping to eat some cookies from a cookie jar (and accidentally breaking it too). "9-Volt did it!"

"Oh no you don't, buster!" 9-Volt's mom grabbed Wario and placed him on her lap for a good spanking on his bottom, causing him to drop one of the stolen cookies on the floor.

"OW! OW! OW! STAHH-HA-HA-HAHP! WAAAAAH!"

Elsewhere in 9-Volt's bedroom, the infantized 9-Volt and Pit were napping on the comfy bed, with Phosphora sitting next to them and stroking their heads affectionately. "That's right, fellas...that's right. No nightmares; only sweet dreams..." She glanced up at the ceiling with a warm smile, taking note of Patricia's five enchanted bouncy ball "balloons" bunched up next to each other, rotating around in a circle like a disco ball-shaped nightlight. "We'll have you both back to normal before you know it, I promise." Then she spent the next few minutes humming the underwater level theme song from _Super Mario Bros._ , stopping only to kiss the boys' heads in a motherly manner.

 _Mona, Keyla, Patricia...I wish you the best of luck in your quest alongside our pals who haven't already been infantized. Maybe Princess Sofia can help you guys find and defeat the Macrohards after all, so we can all get back to our daily lives as one big, happy family..._

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

I know, it's a tad short for a chapter, but I just couldn't help portraying the infantized Wario as a naughty kid. I think I'll slow down and give a little time for the others to read. Regardless, I'll post the following chapter tomorrow as I write the fifth one - besides, I'm already a little overdue myself.


	6. Evil is petty

As promised, I shall be posting the fourth chapter of GJA #3 today, and hence return to writing the next one.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 4: Evil is petty

[Interlude BGM: Bowser Event (Mario Party 3)]

In the distant kingdom known as Enchancia, Purple Basilisk and his two accompanying Chaotic Bombers had just teleported in to cause trouble, starting with petty theft on the Amulet of Avalor. But to swipe it without triggering its ability to curse evildoers, that was another story; the worse part for him was the fact that he overheard Rudy and Rudeena Macrohard, whom he did not know, saying something about claiming the kingdom as their very own to get back at Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, and all those who contributed to their banishment from Disneyland for churning out bad games to Litwak's Arcade. Now the petty dictator, formerly power-crazed months ago during World War III - though many Earthlings and Bombermen alike came to a conclusion it was the Crimson Stone's influence that upped his desires to get back at the Contras until it was no more - was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Either he, Trigger and Mosquito steal Princess Sofia's Amulet of Avalor and work Warlock's magic to bring Turbo back, or put up with Icy's bossy attitude for who knows how long.

On second thought, he'd rather tangle with the Macrohards' personal army than let the Trix witches win at every game they play. But he knew Wreck-It Ralph and his friends weren't far behind, so he pulled out a spellbook that he checked out from the Underworld Public Library, titled **Star Wars Chess: The Ultimate Spellbook Edition**...

"Wait a minute, boss," said Mosquito Bomber. "I hate to rain on your parade, but I thought you said you weren't good at chess like Warlock Bomber is."

"Doesn't mean I dunno how to play it. Now get in position while I work its magic with my know-how, IF the title alone keeps its word. Besides, everybody knows Star Wars belongs to Disney these days." Purple Basilisk paused momentarily to spot Mona, Keyla, Patricia, Cherry, Ralph, Vanellope, Felix and Calhoun. "Ahh, and speaking of Disney, here they are now and not a moment too soon!"

"What're you up to, jerk?!" demanded Calhoun.

"Oh, where are my manners? How shamelessly rude of me...But enough about that. You've teleported yourselves into Enchancia through Game Central Station and Disneyland just in the nick of time, to be defeated by me in the Game of Kings itself - the one, the only, chess...Star Wars Chess, that is!"

"Star Wars Chess?" questioned Mona. "Didn't someone already make that game in the early 90s?"

"Let's just say I thought that if we up and fought you hand-to-hand as usual, you'd kick our butts easily, so why not settle things in chess? If you win, we'll leave your friend's Amulet of Avalor alone and keep all thoughts about stealing it out of our brains forever. But If you lose..."

"Wait, wait," interrupted Felix, "don't tell me you're trying to steal it again!"

Purple Basilisk scoffed in response. "Well, how else do I expect to bring Turbo back so we can rebuild our army?! Stupid Icy and her bossy attitude...Ahem, since you assumed that we were gonna steal it again, Felix, you get to play as the King!"

"The King? But that would mean I can only move one square in any direction at a time and-"

"You'll be easy-pickings!" interrupted Trigger Bomber, whom Calhoun punched in the face in return for the taunt. "OW! Take it easy!"

The black armor-clad sergeant cracked her knuckles. "If you're gonna pick on my husband, then I'll go in as the Queen to protect him."

[End BGM]  
[Fight BGM: Sticker Battle (Paper Mario: Sticker Star)]

It took no later than a minute to decide who's who, and which teams they're playing for. Then Purple Basilisk opened the spellbook and chanted, "Abra-Kadabra, O Mighty Spellbook by the Chess Lord, turn this field into a chessboard!" In mere minutes, the grassfield everyone was standing on transformed into the chessboard, consisting of 64 large squares with eight rows and eight columns, arranged in two alternating colors: light and dark. On the White team, Felix and Calhoun were the King and Queen; Ralph and Vanellope took the stage as the Rooks; Mona and Cherry the Knights; and Keyla and Patricia the Bishops. Ralph, Mona and Patricia positioned themselves on the kingside of the board, therefore making them the King's Rook, Knight and Bishop. On the queenside, Vanellope, Cherry and Keyla were the Queen's Rook, Knight and Bishop. Taking the roles of White Pawns in front of them were eight R2-D2 clones. As for the Black team, Purple Basilisk took the role of its King whilst summoning Darth Vader (albeit an apparition and not the real deal) to be the Queen. Mosquito Bomber was the King's Bishop and Trigger Bomber the Queen's Bishop; two Tusken Raiders roleplayed as the Knights; two AT-ST walkers the Rooks; and eight Imperial Stormtroopers the Black Pawns.

Because it was Star Wars Chess, the White "pieces" were the Rebel Alliance, while the Black "pieces" represented the Galactic Empire, or commonly the Imperial Forces.

"How do we play this game?" asked Vanellope.

"Leave everything to me," answered Calhoun. "Trust me, I'm smarter than I look. Since you and Ralph are the Rooks, you can move forward, backwards, or sideways in as many spaces as possible, but not diagonally. Bishops, on the other hand, can only move diagonally. The Queen - that's me - has the combined movement of the Rook and Bishop."

"Only the Knight can jump over a piece as it moves in its L-shaped pattern," added Mona. "Watch how I do it, Vanellope."

"No, wait," interrupted Calhoun. "I have an idea."

"You saw the chess part in a Harry Potter movie?"

Calhoun nodded, recalling the way the enchanted chess game was played in the movie. Since Purple Basilisk summoned the Star Wars Chess arena with his spellbook, the sergeant had a feeling the pieces were moved in a similar manner. Much like Wizard's Chess as far as the heroes knew, players move their sentient pieces by speaking the name of the piece and the square it is to move to by algebraic notation (Knight to E5, for example). Calhoun showed the others what she meant by telling the R2-D2 stationed at C2, to move to C4, thus signifying what was known by many chess players as the English Opening.

Now it was Purple Basilisk's turn. He couldn't think of a good opening to counteract the one Calhoun picked to start off the game, so he randomly told the Stormtrooper at D7 to move to D5. Then Cherry jumped over the R2-D2 at B2 as she moved over to A3.

"Oh, that's a good move...NOT!" Purple Basilisk then told the Stormtrooper at D5 to take on the R2-D2 next to it, which resulted in the Stormtrooper shooting the dome-shaped robot twice until it exploded like a bomb. "Aww...the widdle R2 went boom!"

Cherry growled in response, pulling out the Twinbellows Cannon she swore to hold onto until the Age-Reverso Ray's effects upon 9-Volt are undone. Having charged up the cannon, she blew up the Stormtrooper as punishment for destroying one of the eight R2-D2s and took the C4 spot. "Save the R2-D2's! Save the R2-D2's!" she called.

Unfortunately for the petty dictator, he didn't possess a lot of experience like Warlock Bomber did in chess; as a result he stupidly got the AT-STs and Tusken Raiders, and the Darth Vader clone out on the board early in the game in hopes that his opponents would be scared into submission. As the game went on with a few more pieces taken at a time on both sides, Ralph jumped on top of an AT-ST walker, tearing its metallic face clean off with his huge hands and punching the inside repeatedly until the walker's head exploded, leaving him unharmed. A Tusken Raider smashed another R2 with his bladed club, a Gaderffii stick, and took its place in time for Patricia to shock him with her electricity, using the stick as a lightning rod.

Then came the Darth Vader apparition, locked in combat with Calhoun. She was set to defeat him as part of her plan to checkmate Purple Basilisk, but he wasn't going down without a fight. Therefore, she borrowed Pink's Aquarius Blade and swung it around gracefully, blocking Vader's red lightsaber as she went for the finishing blow with a charged shot. The apparition vanished in a flash of red light, and with help of the other "pieces" Felix and Calhoun checkmated the enemy King.

[End BGM]

"Aaargh! I hate losing at chess just as much as I hate losing at online games!" ranted Purple Basilisk. "Okay, you got me, so as promised we'll leave Sofia's Amulet of Avalor alone..."

"You better keep your word, or I swear to the devs I'll tear that spellbook of yours into shreds!" warned Calhoun.

"Oh, yes...yes! How _rude_ of me to even think about going back on my word..." The humanoid snake grinned nervously. "I thought you meant 'nevermind'."

Cherry huffed. "I don't trust him."

"G'doi, I know that," scoffed Vanellope, "but we haven't got a choice. We'll be ready if he tries another stunt like that."

Predictably, Purple Basilisk planned on breaking his word, for he would let them meet up with Princess Sofia, follow them to wherever Rudy and Rudeena's base of operations would be, and then steal the amulet when they least expect it.

* * *

Meanwhile at 9-Volt's house in Diamond City, Wario was _still_ behaving mischievously, due to his nature as a naughty boy. Instead of sitting in a "timeout" corner for stealing from a cookie jar and blaming it on 9-Volt, he turned on his X-Box 360 and played _Ultra Street Fighter IV_ by mashing buttons randomly during every single match. But when 5-Volt walked by to check on him, he quickly shut off his TV and ran back to the corner, whistling innocently. After she left to check on 9-Volt, who alongside Pit slept peacefully with Phosphora around to help his mother protect him, Wario got back to his game and played some more.

"No way she'll catch me now!" Just then, a whistle was blown next to him. "AAAAH! Who did that?!"

To his surprise, an all-too-familiar redhead appeared out of nowhere with a cloaking device in tow. "9-Volt's mom said no video games while you're in timeout, Wario!" berated Phoebe, grabbing the infantized CEO of WarioWare Inc. by the hands until he was placed on her lap. Though she possessed no knowledge as a babysitter like Mona, the Bomberman fangirl saw enough of how 5-Volt got the naughty kid to behave to spank his bottom.

"WWAAAAAAAHH! YOU NEVER LET ME HAVE ANY FU-HUUUN!"

"Oh no, you don't! I'm gonna spank the naughtiness right out of you so you'll behave like a good little boy! Do you want to return to normal or not?"

"But-"

"No buts, buster!"

"You just wait till I'm big again! Then I'm gonna fire all of you so hard, you'll wish you never-OWWWWCH! OW OW OW OOOHOO-HOOOCH!"

It was going to be a _loooong_ day indeed. Phoebe could not wait for her and 9-Volt's friends to punish - not to mention spank - Rudy and Rudeena for their mischievous deeds done today.

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

Well, at least I tried my best to do a chess segment without dragging it out too long. I know chess can be boring to some people out there, but strategy is oftentimes involved. I, for one, admittedly lack the skills of a typical grandmaster to date...


	7. The more the pettier

More mishaps in both worlds ensue, all the while Keyla, Patricia and their fellow adventurers - Mona included - get closer to the end of their quest, and the solution to the age-reversing fiasco to boot.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 5: The more the pettier

[Overworld BGM: Inside a House (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker)]

Minutes after being spanked twice in day, Wario was called over to dinner by 5-Volt, who also could not wait for her trusted allies to undo Rudy and Rudeena's infantizing magic. The sooner it was done, the better for all of Diamond City, let alone those close to mother and son. She got out a toddler's chair for Wario to sit on, and a can of spinach with a picture of a world-famous, spinach-eating sailor man, which she opened up with an automatic can-opener. Then she poured its contents onto a bowl before placing it on the table in front of Wario, and got out a Mickey Mouse spoon 9-Volt used to eat cereal with when he was in kindergarten.

But Wario didn't like eating spinach. He hated the way it looked, just the way he remembered from his younger days. One time, his own mother fed him some spinach, claiming it to give a kid some strength, but he spit it out...which, of course, earned him a stern warning that if he didn't eat it, he wouldn't get any ice cream for dessert. He started crying and screaming until his mom calmed him down by making airplane sounds as she spoon-fed him.

Despite his flashback, 5-Volt was in no mood for making airplane sounds just so Wario would behave. He was _not_ her son, nor was he well-behaved as opposed to 9-Volt.

"Me want stwawbewwy ice cweam," the infantized CEO spoke in a childlike manner.

"No, young man," said 5-Volt, "you eat your food that's on the table."

"Uh-uh! Me wants ice cweam! Spinach mega yucky wike bwocowwi! Me wants ice cweam now and pway Stweet Fightuh and new Soopuh Smash Bwuddas!" He pulled out what 5-Volt instantly recognized as the Ultra Hand, a toy manufactured by Nintendo in the late 1960s. It consisted of several criss-cross-connected plastic elements, and operated on the "lazy tongs" pantograph principle. One end of the Ultra Hand had scissors-like handles and was indeed operated like scissors, extending when the handles were to be pinched together and retracting when parted. The other end had two bowl-shaped grips with which ball-like objects, which came with the Ultra Hand, could be gripped whenever the toy is fully extended. In Wario's case, he used the Ultra Hand he "found" while he was running around the house, to open a nearby freezer, grab a small, cylinder-shaped carton of strawberry ice cream, and pulled it back towards him.

"Where did you get the Ultra Hand? Nuh-uh, young man! Hand it over."

"But-"

5-Volt interrupted the stubborn CEO, "No buts. Do you want to be returned to normal or not? Now hand over the Ultra Hand. Please and thank you."

"Uh-uh! Me wanna pway with Uwtwa Hand after ice cweam time!" He used the aforementioned toy to open the cap and grabbed a tablespoon amount of ice cream as though it were a spoon.

"Put down that Ultra Hand and ice cream or you're in trouble. I mean it. Wario, I am not playing around." She placed her hands on her hips in a stern position. "I'm not gonna say it again. If you put that ice cream in your mouth, you're gonna be in big trouble, young man. Ah! Nah-ah!"

"Ahhh..." Wario made a noise to emphasize that word as he opened his mouth, but immediately after touching just a tiny bit of it with the tip of his tongue, 5-Volt got up to grab him, sitting back down to place him face-first on her lap for yet another spanking on the tush. "WAAAAAAH! HA HA! WAH HA HAH! AH, HA HA HA HAAA! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU! I WANT MY MOMMY!"

"I'm sorry, but you leave me no choice but to put you in time-out for 10 minutes. You are to sit in a corner until you stop crying and screaming. Lucky for you, I'm not the kind of parent that would put naughty children in closets just to get them to behave themselves. I don't know how you were raised, but bad behavior will not be tolerated in this house, understand?"

Wario huffed in response, albeit still in tears. "Yes, mommy..."

"I'm not your mother, but in this case, I'll let it slide...but only until you're back to normal."

Suddenly, Phosphora walked into the kitchen with a yawn. "What's all the commotion?"

"Ohhh, just little Wario being Wario in this day and age..." 5-Volt paused momentarily to let out a groan. "My son was never all too difficult for me or Mona to raise right, even if he did stay up past his bedtime now and then."

"I'll say. Are Mona and the others back from teaching those bratty Macrohards a lesson?"

"Sigh...not yet, I'm afraid. Why don't you take over while I go lie down with 9-Volt and Pit in bed?"

The Lightning Flash shrugged it off and simply nodded. "Okey-dokey. I guess my friendly bowling match with Mona can wait for little while longer..."

[End BGM]

* * *

[Interlude BGM: Waluigi Island (Mario Party 3)]

Elsewhere up the hills in the fair kingdom of Enchancia, Purple Basilisk, Trigger Bomber and Mosquito Bomber were looking around for Mona's team from atop a cliff about ten feet off the ground, having prepared themselves a booby trap to ensure a safe capture of Sofia's Amulet of Avalor. "Got the see-saw nailed to the ground, and a cannonball on one end just like you ordered, boss!" said Mosquito Bomber. "Big enough like a bowling ball to flatten someone like a pizza! But why'd you make me so frail?! I nearly sprained my back when Trigger and I had to carry it around because it is HEAVY."

Purple Basilisk replied, "That's because your figure is meant to go well with your flight agility when it comes to dodging enemy attacks. Duh!"

"I hate to complain, boss, but why are we doing this again?" asked Trigger Bomber.

"Because," the humanoid snake answered with a forced groan. "And given our lack of resources at the underworld hideout thanks to Princess Ice-Happy and her merry witches with dark and lightning magic..." He grumbled to himself as he put on a pair of Iron Boots. Then he made as big a leap as he could off the cliff, landing on the see-saw to launch the cannonball up high, but instead of the ball flying towards the heroes walking by, it flattened _him_ in a manner similar to that of a _Wario Land_ game! Mosquito Bomber flew down the cliff onto the surface, rolled the cast-iron ball away, and pulled out an air pump to bring her boss back to his normal shape.

* * *

"Heh heh heh, you sure weren't kidding when you mentioned human girls being crazy about flowers!" boasted Trigger Bomber. "Now THAT is one foolproof plan sure to net us the amulet! If we can't use magic like what's-his-name could-"

"Cedric, I believe," interrupted Purple Basilisk. "If my hunch is correct, they'll stop for a moment so Princesses Keyla, Cherry and Sofia can smell the flowers. Now, can anyone tell me what other Earthly creature is crazy about flowers?"

"A bee," replied Mosquito Bomber. "Why?"

"One beehive launched at them from this catapult over here, and out comes the bee swarm for the sting of the century! They'll be flailing their arms wildly just to get the bees off, Sofia might accidentally drop her amulet for us to steal!" The humanoid snake cut the rope holding back the catapult with a combat knife, flinging the beehive at the heroes as planned! The moment it landed on the flower field with a thud, the bees flew out in anger to sting them, but stopped halfway as soon as they saw a surprised Sofia. With her amulet on, she could talk to and understand animals and insects alike.

"Hey, wait a minute, ladies!" shouted the queen bee. "That's the famous Princess Sofia, the fairest and most kind-hearted of all from Enchancia! She and her friends don't deserve to be stung."

But Sofia's friends could only hear the bees buzzing about, since they're _not_ wearing the Amulet of Avalor. However, she could still translate for them. "They're telling us not to worry about getting stung."

"Ahh, this place just keeps getting more interesting everyday," said Calhoun.

Mona added, "Guess we don't need to have a Bee Badge on as long as Sofia's with us."

"Bee Badge?"

"In _The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds_ ," explained the redheaded adventurer, "whoever wears it after presenting a Golden Bee to the Bee Guy, will magically make all bees friendly, meaning no more stings. Then again, wouldn't _you_ wanna have one on too, in real life?"

[End BGM]

"Besides, she's too nice a person," the queen bee told the worker and drone bees as Mona's team continued to listen on. "It's those three jerks on the other side who are using us just to steal her amulet!"

[Panic BGM: How Far (Mario Party 5)]

"Protect the kind and courageous Princess Sofia from evil!" shouted the bees in unison, following behind their queen to sting the ever living daylights out of Purple Basilisk, Trigger Bomber and Mosquito Bomber. Apparently, even artificial Bombermen like the two can get stung by bees, wasps and/or hornets.

"YEEEOOOOWWWCH!" screamed Purple Basilisk. "NOT THE BEE STINGS!"

"OW, OW, OW, OWCH!" winced Mosquito Bomber. "Sting THEM, not us!"

Trigger Bomber, on the other hand, tried to blast the bees with fragmentation and German grenades alike, only for both the painful stings and his flailing arms to make him drop them on the ground, blowing himself up in the process. "AACK! Get offa me, you jerks! GET OFF ME!"

[End BGM]

To end it all, the queen bee trumpeted a "dun da-da-dah" sounding buzz, prompting the bees to group with her into a big, golf club-shaped formation. Aiming carefully with their stingers ready, the swarm launched themselves backwards and forward at the panicked villains, swatting them far away by the rear until they were out of sight. Finally, the bees formed a big hand to wave at Sofia, letting her know it's safe for everyone to continue the journey prior to reentering their beehive.

* * *

[Defeat BGM: Foolish Bowser (Mario Party 3)]

"Unnnngh...Owwwww! I've definitely lost my desire to send bees, rather than the mosquitoes alone, after people whenever I'm in my Final Smash form!"

"You can say that again, Mosquito..." grunted Trigger Bomber. "So what now, boss?"

" _You_ take my spellbook and prepare to summon the apparitions of the Imperial Forces, the moment you catch up at last," ordered Purple Basilisk. "Me, I think I'll lie down for a while...but NOT a word about the bee stings, to anyone! Especially Icy!"

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...

* * *

The moral of this chapter: Screw with the bees, and you'll get your comeuppance in the end. I've never been stung by one before (nor have I _ever_ thought about messing with them), but I know by heart that it HURTS. Guess I must be one lucky guy, even if I'm afraid of bee stings in this day and age...


	8. Un-sung Heroes

Got over my occasional writer's block once again (all the while cutting back on _SimCity: BuildIt_ ) and managed to get this chapter posted. I'll make sure to do the same for the ending at least no later than tomorrow or this Saturday. I felt like I took a little too long to finish GJA #3, and though I usually cannot promise anything, fear not: I have already thought up the ending in my head. I just need to not let my daily work life take away my desire to finish what I started, that's all.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First (including its theme song) belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl. All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 6: Un-sung Heroes

"So why is it that we're supposed to get Sofia's amulet again?" asked Trigger Bomber. "Because to me, it's starting to sound like the Trix witches want it even more than we do. No offense or anything to our boss, but I think he shouldn't have hired them in the first place, just because Pit's lightning-happy girlfriend whooped our butts, let alone blast Siren Bomber to kingdom come, for 9-Volt and his pals!"

"You're probably right, Trigger," agreed Mosquito Bomber. "But what's to stop Icy, Darcy and Stormy from doing anything humiliating to us if we come back empty-handed? They want beauty, makeup, jewelry - heck, maybe even the Amulet of Avalor, all before Purple Basilisk is allowed to revive Siren and Boxer again!"

The violet-clad Chaotic Bomber gulped. "Who knows what'll happen if we fail? They could turn us into Pokemon dolls, like...like...eep...Gastly!"

Mosquito Bomber slapped him across the face. "Snap out of it! We'll just have to use the Star Wars Chess spellbook to fight our battles, but we gotta return it in one piece after we steal the amulet. Ahh, there they are now!"

But Trigger Bomber noticed something odd. "Um...who in Mihaele's name are _they_?" He pointed at the distant Princesses of Corporal Punishment, whom were just about ready to engage in battle with Keyla and Patricia's group for "daring to intrude." He shrugged it off, adding, "Screw that, Ralph and his flunkies are distracted! Time to bring out the AT-ST walkers, Tusken Raiders, Boba Fett clones, and the Stormtroopers!"

* * *

Amongst this group of so-called princesses, Keyla and Patricia somehow recognized one of them as Valerie, who along with Steven had indeed succeeded in going undercover to avoid detection. But Patricia, knowing how well she and the other Lower Birth kids were trained by their ringmaster, signaled her friends to play along by pretending Valerie and Steven turned against them.

"But we aren't even closer to Rudy and Rudeena's hideout," said Cherry. "I'll bet Viridi the Brat bestowed upon them a magic gift that protects it from being seen!"

"That's right!" boasted one of the Princesses of Corporal Punishment. "You spoiled brats made her look bad and even put her in that yucky Fungeon! This time, we have a new friend who's gonna lead us to victory and make YOU cry!"

"Valerie, how could you?!" shouted Patricia.

"As much as I hate to admit it," replied Valerie, "Steven's got a point: goody two-shoed wimps like 9-Volt are the cowardly ones and not the Macrohards."

[Fight BGM: Yuga Battle - Hyrule Castle (Super Smash Bros. for Wii U)]

All of a sudden, a song blared across the field, coming from a boombox that Mosquito Bomber and Trigger Bomber dragged along. Apparently Purple Basilisk wanted to show off his "brand-new theme song", which Mona was quick to recognize as Yuga's battle theme from _The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds_. "HAVE A NICE DAAAAAY!" whooped Trigger Bomber, randomly firing off shots upwards from his transformable gun arms.

"It's Trigger and Mosquito again!" blurted Ralph. "Aw, don't tell me they brought in more of these AT-STs, Boba Fett clones, Tusken Raiders and Imperial Stormtroopers!"

"Hate to burst your bubbles, girly girls," boasted Mosquito Bomber, "but Princess Sofia's amulet is coming with us! And you can't have it!"

"We care nothing about that icky-cutesy amulet," said Valerie, "but Rudy and Rudeena's hideout forbids violent, nature-destroying creeps like you! Get them, girls! I'm taking the others in as my prisoners."

The Princesses of Corporal Punishment saluted her, bringing themselves away from Ralph and company to engage the Chaotic Bombers instead. As soon as the coast was clear, Valerie flashed her friends a wink, though it was something she barely ever did all her life. "Wh-where are you taking us?" asked Keyla, joining in the act.

Valerie whispered in their ears, even though the blaring song drowned out the private conversation. "I know where they're keeping Pit and Phosphora's longtime friends, the Two Dudes from Skyworld, but Rudy and Rudeena's hideout is on the far corner of Enchancia, guarded by an eco-friendly barrier Viridi bestowed upon them to protect against any form of criticism. Luckily, they gave me a pair of teleportation bracelets when Steven and I 'joined' them..." Though Princesses of Corporal Punishment were too busy fighting off the enchanted Imperial Forces, some of them saw Valerie teleporting Keyla and Patricia's group to the hideout with the belt, satisfied by their assumptions that she meant to take them "prisoner."

"Eat frag 'n German grenades, punks!" Trigger Bomber threw a barrage of grenades, which the "princesses" ironically turned into pink bouncy balls with their magic wands, leading those who saw it to believe they hate violent things - be they bullies, violent video games or explosives that don't resemble cartoon bombs shaped like bowling balls with fuses atop - in an evilly sweet manner. Then they kicked the balls back at the two Chaotic Bombers, detonating in pink-colored explosions to cover them in, even more ironic, pink soot.

"Exploding bouncy balls!" gloated one of the self-proclaimed princesses. "Just the stuff to teach you meanies a lesson!"

"Grrr! Get them, AT-ST walkers!" Trigger pointed the bad girls in dresses out to the chicken walkers. However, the Princesses of Corporal Punishment brought in a pink cannon mounted on wheels, apparently another magical, eco-friendly item bestowed upon them by the Goddess of Nature. Unsurprisingly, they fired a bunch of exploding bouncy balls, one after another, at the AT-ST walkers, destroying them instantly whereas the Tusken Raiders and Boba Fett clones were caught in the pink blasts.

"The only time we like pink and other girly stuff is when _we're_ the ones using them against big fat meanies like you! Come any closer to criticize Rudy and Rudeena Macrohard's business, and you go bye-bye!"

"You girls seem to like the sounds of your own voices, don't you?" retorted Mosquito Bomber, ordering the Stormtroopers to attack. Unfortunately, their habit of missing nearly every shot led her and Trigger Bomber much closer to their humiliating defeat. "Gah! Trigger Bomber, their girlishness is much too powerful! We're getting outta here, but not without our boss!"

[End BGM]

Trigger Bomber yelped in surprise as he dodged one of the exploding bouncy balls just by an inch, whereupon it blew up the boombox instead in yet another pink explosion, thus stopping the music. "Guess it's safe to say this: He who seeks Sofia's amulet and runs away, lives to seek another day! Oh, I just hope Icy, Darcy and Stormy aren't itching to turn us into a bunch of Gastly or worse..."

To add insult to injury, the Princesses of Corporal Punishment jumped up and down like cheerleaders. "YAAAAAAY! The big meanies are go-o-one! The big meanies are go-o-one!"

"HEY, BRATTY GIRLS! OVER HERE!" called out a loud voice, interrupting the bad girls' cheer. It was none other than Cheerful White and Cute Pink!

"Here's something that'll burst your egos like balloons! Okay White, let's do it just the way we saw on TV with Kat and Ana!"

"I'm with you, Pink! Good thing we called in Cool Black and Acrobat Aqua to fill in for us before we left. Now, how'd that song go again..."

The two Bomber-kids clapped their hands four times in unison, as if to say "1, 2, 3, 4!"

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight  
Now I gotta figure out how to do it right  
So much to learn and see_

"Oh no! Not that theme song!" panicked one of the Princesses of Corporal Punishment. "They say it possesses magic that's too goody-goody for Viridi's and our own!"

"EEEEEK! Girls, our Anti-Meanie Cannon's gonna blow up! NOOOOOO!"

But it was too late, for the cannon detonated in a large, pink-colored explosion, covering them in soot. "WAAAAAAAAAH! You're mean! You shouldn't be so serious about defeating us! You...you... _child_ , you...! WAAAAAAAAAH! WAAAAAAAAAH! You big meanies...! We're gonna tell on you!" Then they all ran away in tears, one of whom had accidentally dropped her pair of teleportation bracelets in the process.

[Final Smash BGM: Classic Battle Mode - TG16 Mix II (Bomberman '93)]

Miraculously, the Imperial Stormtroopers survived the onslaught and were eager to finish the fight, so Cheerful White - despite not having his Wolf Claws on hand - got out a Smash Ball and broke it open, giving him the energy to commence his Final Smash: the Dodge Battle! A large maze-like arena from his game franchise materialized out of nowhere, forcing all the Stormtroopers to "participate" and survive the 30-second Dodge Battle with no soft blocks to protect them, if they expect to get out alive. They could not set toon bombs; rather the bombs fall from the sky, and they have to avoid the explosions, relying solely and kicks and punches lest they get blown away. The blast area of each bomb was shown on the arena floor, and as the Final Smash's timer ticked away, a variety of different bombs and patterns of bombs fell, ending with a bunch of near-inescapable Dangerous Bombs. White and Pink were stationed on Revenge Carts outside the arena on all four sides, accompanied by Cool Black and Acrobat Aqua who had been temporarily summoned here for the duration of White's Final Smash. While they could launch one bomb at a time from each cannon to slow down the opposition, they didn't need to because the Stormtroopers weren't used to dodging lots of bomb blasts simultaneously.

In fact, it didn't take longer than 10 seconds for all of them to be sent flying out of sight and out of Enchancia by the explosions, ending White's Final Smash prematurely and teleporting Black and Aqua back to Diamond Dojo. Finally, White and Pink grabbed the teleportation bracelets, hoping they're able to catch up with their friends on time...

[End BGM]

* * *

But the moment they were teleported to the hideout...

"Oh no, we're too late!"

"Whaddya mean, White?"

* * *

A FEW MINUTES EARLIER...

"Just follow behind me and don't get lost," instructed Valerie. "If anyone asks, let me do the talking."

"Why's that?" asked Felix.

"Trust me. I'll just say I'm putting you in the same detention room with Pit and Phosphora's two friends."

Calhoun thought about it momentarily. "...Ahh, I see what you mean."

Ralph, on the other hand, didn't like stealth tactics. "When do we get to wreck something, like the whole stupid castle for a hideout?!"

Vanellope was quick to jump on his face, holding his mouth shut with her hands. "Keep it down, fudge for brains!"

[Interlude BGM: Rival's Theme (Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver)]

"She's right, Bumble-It," taunted a familiar voice, sending everyone into a shock. "You lose your temper out loud, you lose your hiding place."

"Rudy Macrohard!"

"The jig may be up for me and Steven," said Valerie, using her baton to change back into her ringmaster outfit, "but we're shutting you down!"

"Aw, that's a shame, Val. I was hoping you and your stubborn boyfriend could become best pals with me and my sister..." He activated his teleportation bracelets to bring everyone, including himself, to the detention room with Rudeena, who handcuffed Steven's arm next to hers so he wouldn't escape, awaiting their arrival. "Speaking of which, we've gotten so curious about you two, we couldn't help but look up the Internet and son of a gun, did we find something _really_ interesting. I mean, tricking a bunch of kids into committing all these petty crimes just to survive?"

"...That was long ago, until 9-Volt, Keyla and the others helped us realize the error of our ways."

"9-Volt...bah! If Viridi weren't still cooped up in the Fungeon in _Sugar Rush_ , she'd be helping us teach you a lesson! She was right: people like you are the same as every last stubborn mule on Earth who do nothing but destroy trees and stuff! But we Macrohards, despite being human too, are far different. You see, the people outside AND inside Enchancia have to be taught a lesson, and that includes Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. They wanna be rich; we simply turn it all against them by saturating the video arcade market with what you refer to as 'bad arcade games'. Those games will drive them bonkers until they finally cave in and beg Viridi to become their true savior with me and Rudeena as her loyal enforcers."

"She knows nothing about nature!" shouted Cherry. "All she ever does beyond butting heads with poor Pit is badmouth anyone she thinks hates nature!"

"Giving respect to nature is one thing," added Sofia, "but intimidating them into doing so under a threat of force doesn't make you any better than those who actually hate it! This is what I was taught at the academy..."

"Ugh, what every kid sees in you and your show, I'll never understand," Rudeena stated with a hint of disgust. "YOU'RE the spoiled brats for making Viridi look bad and you know it!"

[End BGM]  
[Final battle BGM: Showdown with Dedede (Kirby's Dream Course)]

"I've had enough of your bratty attitudes!" Cherry cast a fireball spell, followed by firing a charged shot from 9-Volt's Twinbellows Cannon. Surprisingly, her shots were deflected by a magic barrier on Rudy and Rudeena's bodies.

"Are you finished?" mocked Rudy. "Good, because now it's our turn. Behold our other invention: the Pokkannon! Get it? Pokemon, cannon, meshed into...ah, you get the picture. It can fire any Pokemon attack we see fit, like Psybeam!" His hi-tech-looking cannon fired a peculiar, purple wave of ring-shaped ray powered with psychic, dealing damage to the group. Luckily, they didn't end up confused. "Listen, don't get us wrong, Cherry, but we're really grateful you and your pals managed to get this far. On the other hand, I'm afraid your silly quest to revert your infantized friends back to normal ends here with me and my sis! Keyla, Patricia, you and everyone else might wanna pay attention while you can."

Rudeena added her two cents, "Our parents, helped by Viridi, bestowed upon us our magic barriers and the Pokkannon for just such an occasion, and guess what else: THEY HAVE NO WEAK SPOTS! So NYAH, NYAH NYAH-NYAH NYAH, to you! We'll always be the better ones than 9-Volt and Phoebe and they know it! Better give up and run on home right now, because our magic's stronger than yours! All this silly love and friendship nonsense won't help you now!"

Mona growled in response to the Macrohards' taunting. "You're only saying this because, much like your parents, you're a pair of spoiled brats who are greedy and jealous, and you don't care who you step on to get what you want, even if it means blotting out all criticism towards your so-called arcade games!"

Rudy stuck out his tongue in a taunting manner. "You still think you can win after what we told you about how unbeatable we are? Don't make me laugh! You see, our gadgets, aside from the Age-Reverso Ray, run on greed and our lineage's magic, and greed is good! Your magic...it's pure childish, Disney-friendly nonsense. So just do us and the whole world a favor, and lose already, will ya?"

"We may not be able to defeat you with physical means...but we can still save the day in the name of love and friendship."

* * *

Suddenly, they all heard White and Pink's voices, temporarily interrupting the battle at hand.

"Oh no, we're too late!"

"Whaddya mean, White?"

Sofia was the first to hear them out loud. "Don't despair, guys. You made it in time, but how'd you get past all the guards?"

"No time to explain," answered Pink. "But you gotta hear this: White and I guessed right! Oh, and Kat and Ana are safe with their sensei; we called our best pals from planet Bomber, Cool Black and Acrobat Aqua, to fill in. We had also been wondering how we could counteract Rudy and Rudeena's powers, and when we tuned in to see an episode of _Sofia the First_ with Kat and Ana, that's when we thought maybe its theme song has a magic of its own that can defeat the Macrohards'!"

"Just follow our lead!" cheered White, starting off the theme song alongside Pink:

[Interrupt BGM]

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight_

[Resume Final battle BGM]

"Hey! HEY! Stop singing!" complained Rudy as the song's magic suddenly made the handcuffs break apart, freeing Steven in the process.

Felix wondered to Calhoun, "Are you sure that song can shut down their robot?"

"Theoretically, yes. I think White and Pink are on to something."

Vanellope, however, scoffed. "Isn't it obvious, you guys? That cannon runs on greed and evil magic like Rudy said, meaning it can't stand good magic! Just watch and see, g'doi!"

Ralph shrugged it off. "As much as I don't like listening to kiddy songs, I guess I'll let it slide this time."

"...A song? A SONG? Are you freakin' serious?!" shouted Steven, walking back to Valerie's side with a disgusted look on his face. "You and your brother are even more pathetic than I thought at first, Rudeena! Sorry, but...Just thinking that a kiddy song of all things can defeat evil magic makes me wanna...BLECH! Gag me with a spoon!"

Mona theorized on how the plan should go, thinking back to an RPG she used to play. "We're gonna have to increase the theme song's power by singing the entire lyrics uninterrupted if we're to beat this thing. Keyla, since you're a very talented singer, follow along with Sofia. The rest of us, including White and Pink, will draw the Pokemon attacks from Rudy and Rudeena's Pokkannon."

Now it was Keyla's turn to sing, though she decided to let Sofia lead the way. Therefore, Patricia encouraged her to sing her heart out for their Best Bouncing Ball Buddy, 9-Volt, as though she were singing to him with her soothing voice.

[Interrupt BGM]

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight  
Now I gotta figure out how to do it right  
So much to learn and see_

[Resume Final battle BGM]

The song's magic power increased, this time causing the Pokkannon, Age-Reverso Ray and the Macrohards' belt-mounted barrier generators to crackle a bit. "AAAACK!" screamed Rudeena. "STOP! Stop the song before you break our stuff!"

Keyla responded, albeit in a singsong tone of voice. "No way! You're getting what's coming to you for picking on our friends in Diamond City, including 9-Volt!"

"Big talk for a pint-sized-"

The moment Keyla heard the words "pint-sized" enter her ears, she stopped singing momentarily, changing to a serious tone. "Don't. Even. Say it."

* * *

"Valerie, do we really have to listen to that stupid song until it's over and defeats the Macrohards' magic?!" complained Steven, covering his ears.

"I'm afraid we have no choice, so we might as well put up with it." The Lower Birth's ringmaster sighed, ducking underneath a wave of Razor Leaves directed at her. "And while we're at it, keep dodging these attacks!"

[Interrupt BGM]

* * *

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight  
Now I gotta figure out how to do it right  
So much to learn and see_

 _Up in the castle with my new family_  
 _In a school that's just for royalty_

[Resume Final battle BGM]

The Pokkannon sparkled with electricity a bit more, causing it to launch an Egg Bomb upwards and bounce off the ceiling back towards the floor, exploding next to Rudy and Rudeena instead. "STOP IT! Stop that song, you spoiled brats!" Rudy stamped his feet in a tantrum. "Whatever's causing a malfunction on our environmentally-friendly cannon, this has to stop NOW!"

"Be quiet, Rudy!" Sofia hushed him like a stern mother despite being four years younger than him. "The magic power of positive feelings will win over selfishness and greed any day."

"Grrr! Positive feelings, let alone love and friendship, are for wimps! That's why 9-Volt deserves to be branded a coward by yours truly! Now knock off the girly nonsense and quit your singing before you do anymore damage to our pride!"

The little princess-in-training sighed. "If that's the way you want it, then I'll just have to devote myself to protecting him from you and Rudeena. The people of my kingdom taught me better, like what's the use of wealth if you're not willing to share with others."

Mona agreed, "9-Volt's mom and I taught him better too - no, not just us, but all of his friends as well."

Rudeena covered her ears with her hands so as to blot out all sound coming from the song. "All this talk about love and friendship is killing me more than it's negating our magic we put on these gizmos here! If there's one thing Rudy and I detest more than _Doc McStuffins_ and its goody-two-shoes concept, it's _Sofia the First_ AND its goody-two-shoes concept and songs alike...especially THAT ONE!"

The redhead smirked. "You mean this one?"

Cherry giggled in agreement, "Keyla, Sofia, fire away some more when you're ready!"

[Interrupt BGM]

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight  
Now I gotta figure out how to do it right  
So much to learn and see_

 _Up in the castle with my new family_  
 _In a school that's just for royalty_  
 _A whole enchanted world is waiting for me_  
 _I'm so excited to be_

[Resume Final battle BGM]

The Pokkannon malfunctioned again, this time releasing another Psybeam that not only missed, but also spooked plenty of Princesses of Corporal Punishment that came by to help their leaders. Rudeena screamed again, "CUT IT OUUUUT! Ohhh, that kid-friendly show and its songs supposedly meant to demonstrate how princesses should be all courteous and brave and kind and even caring to others...! And big meanies such as you say the Princesses of Corporal Punishment and I give princesses a bad name...well, you and all the other goody-two-shoes brats and brutes alike, royalty or not, are the ones giving US a bad name! Tell them, Rudy!"

"Yeah, people who are royalty, be they king, queen, prince or princess, should be in complete control of everything like a true dictator, not kind and caring to people! Peasants like yourselves must know who's boss around here whether you like it or not!"

Cherry made a taunting face as she stuck out her tongue. "Go cry me a river, you spoiled brats! You're just as bad as Viridi, if not Palutena as well! Speaking of which, I don't mind if I joined in with Keyla and Sofia."

"Feel free to do so if you want," said Patricia. "Cute Pink, can you and White handle the Princesses of Corporal Punishment? Here are your Wolf Claws and Aquarius Blade back."

[Interrupt BGM]  
[Final Smash BGM: Tankbot (Kirby's Epic Yarn)]

The two Bomber-kids thanked their friends as they took back their Skyworld weapons, followed by Pink breaking her own Smash Ball to show off her own Final Smash. Swinging her weapon around in a circle like a baton, she summoned a Smash Ball-fueled tidal wave to engulf the Macrohards' underlings, rendering both herself and her friends unharmed in the process. As the wave comes rushing forth, she said "Surf's up..." and the moment it struck the baddies for water-based damage and washed them away, she finished with "...and down!"

[End BGM]

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight  
Now I gotta figure out how to do it right  
So much to learn and see_

 _Up in the castle with my new family_  
 _In a school that's just for royalty_  
 _A whole enchanted world is waiting for me_  
 _I'm so excited to be_

 _(Sofia the First)_  
 _I'm finding out what being royal's all about_  
 _(Sofia the First)_  
 _Making my way it's an adventure everyday_

[Final battle BGM: Dedede is Getting Closer! (Kirby's Dream Course)]

Rudy panicked with fear alongside his sister, their barriers breaking up due to their belts having shorted out. "Oh no...no no no no no. Her theme song's magic is overpowering ours! Soon, everybody else will know where PPI HQ is and shut us down for saturating the video arcade market to make profits!"

"If they continue to give it their all one more time, all our family's money spent paying tribute to Viridi and trying to conquer the market will have gone down the drain!"

In spite of their increased efforts to finish off their "mean-spirited critics" with a variety of Pokemon attacks, ranging from the Hydro Pump to the Fire Blast to even the Solar Beam, the Core Four of Game Central Station willingly absorbed the hits with their bodies (all the while Felix wasted no time healing them with his magic hammer). Rudy and Rudeena gasped with fright, "NO NO NO!"

Sofia beamed excitedly, "YES YES YES! Keyla, Cherry, one more time! I think we're gonna make it!"

[End BGM]

 _I was a girl in the village doing alright  
Then I became a princess overnight  
Now I gotta figure out how to do it right  
So much to learn and see_

 _Up in the castle with my new family_  
 _In a school that's just for royalty_  
 _A whole enchanted world is waiting for me_  
 _I'm so excited to be_

 _(Sofia the First)_  
 _I'm finding out what being royal's all about_  
 _(Sofia the First)_  
 _Making my way it's an adventure everyday_

 _(Sofia)_  
 _It's gonna be my time_  
 _(Sofia)_  
 _To show them all that I'm_  
 _Sofia the First!_

At long last, the Pokkannon and Age-Reverso Ray sparkled with showers of electricity arcing all over and smoke coming out, their magic unable to take anymore of the theme song's from _Sofia the First_. "Oh no, they're overloading!"

"They're gonna blow!" The gadgets finally exploded like a bunch of Bob-ombs going off simultaneously, blasting a big hole in the ceiling and throwing Rudy and Rudeena out in soot. "AAAAAAAAAHH!"

[Victory BGM: Got a Star Piece (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)]

"Well, I guess listening to the whole song bit by bit was fun while the battle lasted," said Ralph.

"I know, right?" beamed Vanellope. "With the Age-Reverso Ray kaput, I'm sure its magic will wear off shortly. My fellow racers of _Sugar Rush_..."

"My stubborn yet cool boyfriend, Wario..." added Mona. "But most of all, 9-Volt, Pit, and all our good friends who had been victimized will at last be back to normal! Boy, what an adventure we had together with Sofia for a change!"

[End BGM]

* * *

[Reunion BGM: Star Card (Kirby's Dream Course)]

Half an hour later, everyone in Keyla and Patricia's team returned back to Diamond City safely, eager to see their restored friends once again. "So, you guys did it and spanked Rudy and Rudeena really good!" cheered Phosphora.

"Ah, it's SO good to be back to my teenaged self!" said Pit.

Keyla, Patricia and Cherry glanced ahead and saw 9-Volt back to normal too, running up to him for a group hug. "9-Volt, you're okay!" squealed Patricia, dotting his cheeks with her kisses. "Ohhh, I'm sooo happy to see your normal self again! Were you worried?"

"Well...I was, but thankfully Phosphora and my mom took turns playing with me, tickling me and singing to me so I wouldn't get upset about missing you and Keyla."

"I'm glad...and it's all thanks to Heaven's Light and Ms. Perivelle's guidance, that we were able to succeed in our quest. From now on, I'll be more caring to all my friends than ever before, especially you, now that Keyla and I have our angel powers. More importantly, I won't ever be jealous of Phosphora's lightning powers being stronger than mine anymore."

"I can teach you how to make your powers stronger," suggested Phosphora, patting Patricia's head gingerly. "It won't be easy, but we can make it possible as long as you believe in yourself. Besides, you sure weren't kidding when you said Heaven's Light was magical for a big bouncy ball."

Keyla and Cherry kissed 9-Volt's cheeks, with Sofia chuckling happily. "You guardian angels sure like kissing him a lot, don't you?"

"Mm-hmm," answered the Vampire/Bowling Princess of Roseland. "Pure-hearted boys like him deserve an affectionate kiss or two on either his head or cheeks - or both - now and then, especially when he's not afraid to help us out if the situation calls for it. Right, Cherry?"

"Right! That way, everything's made a lot easier and more fun for us to keep him safe and sound! Which reminds me, I dunno why Purple Basilisk's so interested in stealing your Amulet of Avalor, but at least we got him and his goons out of our hair for a while."

[End BGM]

* * *

[Interlude BGM: Valley of Bowser (Super Mario World)]

Elsewhere in the underworld at Purple Basilisk's frozen hideout, Icy and her fellow Trix witches were predictably disappointed with the Basilisk Dynasty's leader's failure to seize the amulet. "Purple Basilisk, you bungling idiot! Hmph...I should have known better than to trust you and your flunkies to run our errands for us!"

"You oughta be ashamed of yourselves for not keeping us happy like you promised!" berated Darcy. "At least Warlock Bomber's obedient!"

"And you need to take lessons from him and appease us, whether you like it or not!"

But the humanoid snake, having had enough punishment for one day, pulled out three buckets and stuffed them on top of the Trix witches' heads, one at a time. "Bah! Sometimes, I don't know who I detest more: the Contras' lapdogs...or you! If anybody wants me, I'm in my room, playing _Call of Duty_ , _Team Fortress 2_ and _Counter-Strike: Global Offensive_ on my computer." Then he walked away to his bedroom, only to be surprised by Warlock Bomber's appearance.

"Pardon my unannounced visit to your private room, master, but I come bearing good news."

"This better be as good as you say. Icy, Darcy and Stormy are already on to me like I'm a big-time bungler!"

"While I have indeed fulfilled their makeup needs on the surface world through the digital version of Diamond City's shopping mall, I also spent a great amount of time at Diet Cola Mountain in _Sugar Rush_ bringing Turbo back to life. It was a very difficult task, seeing how he had already perished outside his own game, so I had to take a closer look at the game's code with my Black Magic. Miraculously, I found the remaining bits of his current being and returned to our hideout, conducting an experiment at Mosquito Bomber's lab in secrecy and successfully restored Turbo's soul...albeit corrupted, given the appearance of a Cy-bug with his face, occasionally shifting to King Candy's head and back."

"Ah, yes. Now we can use his power to resurrect Siren Bomber and Boxer Bomber once again! Doing so without being seen by the Trix, however, begs another question..."

[End BGM]

TO BE CONTINUED...


	9. New friends, new adventures

I _did_ say I'd get the ending posted the day or two after chapter 6 for GJA #3...but I ended up running out of time when I had to get ready for work. I was discussing with my friend, JapanAnimeGirl, on how I want the bowling segment (derived from one of our roleplay chat sessions) to turn out. But, at least I managed to get it all done on time, so...Happy Easter, everybody! Enjoy the ending, for I've had my share of fun portraying Wario as a naughty kid in his "infantized" state.

 **DISCLAIMER: WarioWare, Kid Icarus and Super Smash Bros. are owned by Nintendo; Bomberman belongs to Hudson Soft albeit in Konami's hands as of March 2012; Contra is a property of Konami; Wreck-It Ralph and Sofia the First (including its theme song) belong to Disney; Final Fantasy is owned by Square-Enix; and Winx Club is rightfully owned by Iginio Straffi. Princess Cherry of ChiWorld belongs to my online friend LovelyTekki (aka. Princesstekki, on DA), whereas Keyla and Patricia - in addition to all the other Lower Birth kids besides the aforementioned Mistress of Bouncing Balls - are owned by my other online pal on DA, JapanAnimeGirl (who also owns her dimension-traveling OC, Creatria - sometimes Revine; long story). All arcade games, movie franchises, etc. mentioned in GJA #3 belong to their respective companies, unless stated otherwise.**

* * *

Chapter 7: New friends, new adventures

[Ending BGM: Break at Pi'illo Castle (Mario & Luigi: Dream Team)]

"Wow, Patricia!" said Sofia. "Electric Ball Castle sure reminds me of the kingdom I live in!"

Patricia replied, "It's lovely, isn't it? 9-Volt and Keyla helped me come up with a home that's befitting for me and my title as Mistress of Bouncing Balls, and the rest of us built it altogether. It took a whole month or so, but I'm happy it turned out perfect. We have lots of fun things for all our friends: video games, an auditorium for performances, a room where we store my stash of big bouncy balls, and even a bowling alley! Oh, and we've recently added an outdoor volleyball court since Maya used to love playing volleyball at Ms. Perivelle's Home for Children."

"In the world of Enchancia, we play all kinds of fun games during an occasional event every year, known as the Tri-Kingdom Picnic. One time, my step-brother James and I were paired up and...well, it's a long story, but I taught him all about good sportsmanship in the end."

"What happened?" asked Keyla.

Kat explained, "He acted like his twin sister, Amber, whenever he and Sofia lost, but when they won one time, he boasted away."

"I don't blame him for acting like that," added Ana. "After all, he and Amber were paired up all the time and not always winning. That, and she dislikes outdoor sports... Kat and I watch your cartoon show all the time at Diamond Dojo."

"At least he learned his lesson when I took him to watch our parents playing Bewitching Bowling with their fellow monarchs," stated Sofia. "Even though our dad - my step-dad, that is - wasn't winning, he was still having fun which is what really matters. Same with mom."

"WE'RE READY!" came 9-Volt's voice from a distance.

"Coming, 9-Volt!" blurted Keyla. "LET'S BOWL!"

* * *

While everyone gathered up at the bowling alley within Electric Ball Castle, the delicate Maya eyed a variety of bowling balls neatly stacked next to each other and picked out the one that matched her favorite color: pink. In fact, she loved the pink bowling ball and couldn't help picking it up without checking its weight to determine whether it was right for her. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her as her arms wobbled and she dropped the ball...right on Steven's arm!

"YEOWCH!" The demon boy let out a roar of agony and, as his rage grew, his demon half quickly formed. He tried to lunge to tear Maya apart, but Mona was quick to pull out a black iron ball, big and heavy as a 16-lb. bowling ball, to defend her. Phosphora, on the other hand, signaled for her friendly bowling rival to step back and let her handle it. Then she launched a ball lightning at the back of Steven's head, de-transforming him and knocking him out at the same time.

"Maya, you need to be more careful," warned Valerie.

"I'm sorry!" panicked Maya, as Valyn picked up the pink bowling ball and seemed to be able to hold it without any effort. It became obvious that Maya was currently not fit to handle a bowling ball heavier than 6 lbs.

"What was that you pulled out just now, Mona?" Calhoun asked curiously.

"My Shot Put. I spent some quality time learning plenty of moves from my lazy boyfriend Wario, but the Shot Put attack was the one I learned on my own. I had Ashley convert Wario's old and tattered 16-lb. black bowling ball into just that, and presto! A big sister's gotta be able to protect and help out her little brother on behalf of his mom."

Wario shrugged. "Weh. Let's just say Jimmy Thang's not the only one in my crew who loves playing sports."

"What can I say? I enjoy sports and being active. Bowling, tennis and golf are by far my specialties! Volleyball, too, but still."

"I like playing sports too!" said John.

"I'd like to learn HOW to play some sports..." admitted Valyn.

Jaclyn cheered, "Metoo!Metoo! (Me too! Me too!)" Then, speaking as slowly as she can, she turned to her friends. "Ph-Phosphora, Mona, can you two, please, teach us how to play some sports?"

"Sure thing!" replied Phosphora. "We'd love to teach you guys sometime."

"Now, whaddya say we get started on our bowling party?" announced Pit.

"Right with you, Pit, and like Keyla said before: LET'S BOWL!"

Henceforth, all the friends and families of Diamond City, Game Central Station and the fair Enchancia went bowling together whilst dividing themselves into teams of six, with some getting a strike or two (Mona, Phosphora and Pit, for example); others getting gutterballs; some being lucky enough to pick up spares...but 9-Volt didn't expect one who usually doesn't show emotion like Valerie to bowl too. In fact, he shuddered when he found out he was bowling against her. True, the girl had never bowled before and she wasn't so sure she'd do too decently, as her team kept shouting out encouragement, but she looked as though she was ready to kill someone for dragging her to this "stupid" game. Tragically, Valerie bowled a gutterball, but she didn't seem to care much about it as she turned around, before her ball even finished, and she sat back down with her "team."

What surprised 9-Volt even more, which now brought about Phoebe, Mona and 18-Volt's attention, was the fact that Maya became afraid; even 9-Volt's mom got worried and kindly asked him to teach the timid little blonde how to bowl. Of course, said child was trembling, both from holding a bowling ball for the first time with her feet touching the firm ground on their own for the first time in years (given both her tendency to float like a balloon and her wind powers) and afraid she might end up doing as bad as Valerie. Plus, Valerie was on her team...

"Maya...?!" wondered Patricia, also worried about her friend.

"I...I...I..." The timid girl started tearing up. "I can't do this...The pins are too far away...My ball will never make it..." Tears start rolling down her cheeks.

Steven, having recovered from the accident a few minutes earlier, announced with a concerned tone of voice, "Uh-oh! Maya's freaking out again."

Quick as a flash, Valerie sprung to Maya's side to calm her down. No one could hear what they were saying, but Maya stopped crying and smiled. Valerie flashed a small smile of her own and walked back to sit next to John.

"What did you say?" he asked the ringmaster.

"I simply told her to stop crying." Obviously, Valerie had said something to kind and sweet to Maya that she didn't want the others to know about, since "kind and sweet" are not what Valerie is known for.

"Um...is she okay?" asked Pit.

"What was that all about?" added Felix.

Valyn answered, "Don't worry, you two. Luckily, Maya is easier to calm down than she used to be. She's cowardly, but when she gets determined, her wind powers pack a punch!"

* * *

"I'll handle this, fellas. Don't worry."

"You sure, 9-Volt?"

"Cherry, it's gonna be okay, I promise. I was a little scared too when Mona first taught me how to bowl and lots of people were doing better. Wish me luck!"

After conversing with his friends, he calmed himself from thinking what Valerie might do to him or anyone and walked over to Maya to cheer her up, all the while holding Heaven's Light in his hands. Obviously, he could only do that whenever it was not his turn at the lanes. "Shhh...Don't cry, Maya." He rubbed her back affectionately in circles. "Don't cry; I'm here to teach you the best I can. C'mon, easy steps now..." Knowing that both Mona and his mother were counting on him to show Maya the ropes, he walked with her a few steps forward to her lane, stopping just before the foul line.

 _Keyla, I'm gonna make you and Patricia proud to be my and Phoebe's Best Bouncing Ball Buddies. If Mona could teach me how to bowl and play video games, I can do the same for Maya._

It didn't come as a surprise to him that Mona, Phosphora and Sofia came over to help him cheer Maya up. "Just tell yourself: 'My ball will make it to the pins.' Now when you're ready, hold your ball with both hands like how I'm doing with Heaven's Light, kneel down and count from 1 to 3, also like how I'm doing. Then swing your arms forward to get it rolling straight. Like this: '1, 2, 3, swing!' On 'swing!', that's when you let go of your ball so it rolls at the pins on the other end. Mona, Phosphora, Sofia and I will count with you."

"More importantly, it doesn't matter who bowls well and who doesn't," added Phosphora. "Pit and I don't always get the highest scores on our downtime from protecting Skyworld and sparring with each other, but so what? Having fun with friends and family counts."

Pit walked to his girlfriend's side too. "Yeah. There's nothing to be afraid of at all. Trust me!"

9-Volt glanced over to Mona for a second, flashing each other a friendly wink, prompting her to modify the settings on Maya's assigned lane so that the bumpers come on to block the gutters whenever it was her turn. Then he said to her, "Let me tell you a story: Once upon a time, there lived a fair-skinned fairy princess with blonde hair in a lovely orange dress, whose specialties were bowling, and looking very gorgeous - in a kid-friendly way, I mean. She hadn't always bowled her best compared to her fairy friends in a faraway, magical kingdom, but she always knew how to have fun and stay positive. One day, she noticed two children, a boy and a girl, wanting to learn how to bowl, but they were afraid of messing up. So she calmed them down and was more than happy to teach them. In the end, they got over their fear of gutterballs and thanked the fairy princess, and they all played lots of fun games until bedtime. Everybody then lived happily ever after, dreaming together as the princess shared her bed with them for their good behavior done today."

"I like fairies a lot!" Maya smiled adoringly as she listened intently to 9-Volt. "Who are you referring to?"

"They call her...Stella, Princess of Solaria, and co-founder of the Winx Club alongside her best friend, Bloom, Princess of Domino. During my summer vacation with my mom in Roseland last year, Keyla took us to the distant land called the Magical Dimensions and introduced me to Bloom, Stella, Musa, Flora, Tecna and Aisha. Apparently, she had known them long before I came to befriend her. Even then, I only got to watch a few episodes of _Winx Club_ , but my favorite characters are..." He paused momentarily to blush. "Stella and Tecna. They were the most fun to hang out with, but too bad I only got to see them for one day before we had to head back. Oh, and we also visited the Sailor Scouts and their kids in their own dimension..."

"The Winx Club, huh?" interrupted Pit. "Phosphora and I love that show along with Sailor Moon! How come you never told us you were friends with them?"

"Well...I sorta kept that a secret, sharing it only with Phoebe and Mona, so to speak. I was afraid to admit it."

"Don't worry; it's all good. They're very nice and protective of their friends, unlike the bratty Trix witches."

"A very special friend, whom I look up to as a big sister ever since I became a Vampire Princess, taught me how to travel to other dimensions with my magic," Keyla told Pit and Phosphora. "It took time getting it right, but I'm glad to have learned about it. She goes by plenty of names...but that's the story for another time. Let's just call her Creatria for now."

While the story 9-Volt told Maya was simply made up and not an actual event (then again, Mona used to tell him made-up stories when he was little), he needed to cheer her up somehow. Then again, Tecna (as far as Keyla told him) loved playing sports and being active, so it probably wouldn't come as a surprise that bowling just might be Stella's other specialty besides beauty. Henceforth, Maya held her bowling ball like 9-Volt was holding Heaven's Light. "M-M-My ball will make it to the pins...1, 2, 3, swing!" With a sound like a gunshot, and a few people hitting the deck, Maya's wind powers sent the ball rolling down the lane and, unbelievably, she made a strike! Clapping erupted from her team as Maya beamed!

 _That was...unexpected_ , thought a surprised 9-Volt; nevertheless he clapped his hands in unison with the others and offered a hug to Maya.

"My little brother's starting to like her," Mona said to herself. Maya jumped up and down in 9-Volt's arms, hugging him happily and giving him a kiss on the tip of his nose.

Patricia laughed jokingly with Mona. "I hope 9-Volt's not romantically interested in Maya; she's already got a boyfriend named Daniel."

"I wouldn't worry too much about it, Pat. He's already got Phoebe."

Maya happily went with 9-Volt to roll his bowling ball down the lane together. It didn't matter if he ended up with a 7-10 split; she wasn't afraid of bowling anymore...but then she got a little silly and had him roll two balls with her to get the remaining two pins on both sides of his lane for a spare. Though it was against the rules to do that, 9-Volt thought it was worth a laugh. "This is fun! YAY!" She hugged 9-Volt again, this time dotting his cheeks with her kisses.

"Settle down, Maya," giggled Phoebe. "You already have a boyfriend, remember?"

"We know that," 9-Volt answered for Maya, laughing as he got a few more sloppy kisses. "She's just excited and happy I helped her get over her fears. This _is_ her first time bowling, after all. In fact, maybe we can all invite her to come with us to visit Alfea, and even ask Stella to teach her what it means to be a brave person."

Maya blushed. "Sorry and sorry again about the two balls! My kisses are my way of saying 'thank you.'" Everyone looked at Daniel, Maya's boyfriend, to see if he was OK with Maya kissing another guy, but he just smiled. Nope, he was perfectly fine with it.

"Which reminds me..." said Mona, getting out a bright pink, 6-lb. bowling ball to give to Maya. "From me and 9-Volt, to you. It's the T-Zone Pink Bliss. We both went to Keyla's Bowling Kingdom to pick it out to give to you before we met up with everyone else here, right after you told us you'd love to learn how to bowl."

"Y-You really don't have to g-give me anything s-special, 9-Volt and Mona."

"Maya, you should be honored," said Steven, "no one's ever given you anything that special."

Valerie agreed, "Yes. It is a...thoughtful gift."

"Yeah!" whooped John.

Mona then gave Maya a bit of helpful advice, "Now, you always wanna take good care of it by keeping it clean every now and then, as if it were your best friend..."

9-Volt added, "It may not be as bouncy for a 6-lb. ball, but it'll always be light enough for you no matter what."

Maya held the pink ball without much effort, hugging it lovingly as she adored its shiny, pearl-like exterior, but she set it down next to her seat and hugged 9-Volt, then jumped up to hug Mona. "I promise I'll keep my bowling ball clean."

* * *

"Next thing we know, Maya will want to be Best Bouncing Ball Buddies with Patricia and the others, and learn all the ball-balancing basics," noted Valerie, watching from a distance with Steven. "By the way...why didn't you break free of the handcuffs when you could have done so yourself?"

"Ehh, I had to make it look like Rudy and Rudeena were much too powerful for me...but of course, I wanted to see Mona spank them really good, which she never did because of that sickeningly sweet song we HAD to listen to..."

"No harm, no foul, as the old saying goes. But if you _ever_ tell anyone I had to wear that ugly dress just to get by undetected..."

"Hey, no worries! It's all safe with me." The half-demon boy sported a cocky grin, leading Valerie to punch him in the face.

* * *

"Nice and easy steps now...c'mon, you can do it, Maya. Do it for your new Best Bouncing Ball Buddies: me, Phoebe, Keyla and Patricia...that's it. The pins are the ones afraid, not you."

Maya followed along with 9-Volt's words, whilst getting encouragement from Daniel and everybody else. "I-I-I'm not scared...th-the pins are...n-not me...M-My ball will make it. 1, 2, 3, SWING!" With her wind powers, her very own pink bowling ball went zooming down the lane at the pins, despite getting a 7-10 split this time. "Oh, shoot!"

[End BGM]  
[Final Smash BGM: Powerful Mario (Super Mario 64)]

Phoebe had an idea. "Look what 9-Volt and I can do!" The two Nintendo fan kids got out their Smash Balls and busted them open, having their Phosphora Bow and Ball Cannon ready. The energy from the artifacts gave them the ability to fly for a limited amount of time, but for now, they put on a show for Maya with Keyla using her magic to give out rainbow effects. Then Patricia, having got out a bright pink bouncy ball from her private stash, balanced it on the tip of her nose like a seal before passing it over to 9-Volt and Phoebe, who also used their noses in the same manner as the Mistress of Bouncing Balls herself. Maya clapped her hands and cheered in delight.

"From your new Best Bouncing Ball Buddies," announced Patricia, signaling for her three pals to pass the ball to the child just before 9-Volt and Phoebe's Final Smashes wore off, "to you, Maya."

[End BGM]

"YAY! I'm your new Best Bouncing Ball Buddy now!" She hugged and kissed her pink bouncy ball lovingly, as though it were her new best friend. "Awww, thank you, guys! I'm not scared of bowling anymore! But...I don't think I can do any ball-balancing tricks like you can..."

"Uh, being a Bouncing Ball Buddy doesn't necessarily mean you gotta be able to know all those tricks," elaborated Keyla. "It means someone who enjoys playing with bouncy balls, and sharing them with best pals who also love these toys too. Right, Patricia?"

The Mistress of Bouncing Balls nodded in agreement, patting Maya's head gingerly in the process. "Mm-hmm. I promise Keyla and I won't get mad if you mess up. 9-Volt and Phoebe are still learning, but that's okay with me."

Maya smiled warmly. "Th-thank you, everyone..."

* * *

"Guess her wind powers can prove very useful in helping us out," White told Pink.

"Mm-hmm. All it takes is learning how to be a brave person. It won't be easy, but worth the effort."

"I agree," said 5-Volt. "Now let us never again speak of the time I've had to babysit an infantized Wario..."

White and Pink sweatdropped. "Look on the bright side: everything's back to normal now...well, thanks mostly to Keyla, Patricia and their traveling companions, while Pink and I babysat Kat and Ana. Still, I can't wait for all of us to share the good news with the Contras about Heaven's Light, and how it granted Keyla and Patricia their angel powers! I just know Aaron, Ami, Bill, Lance, Arctic and Blaze, whom our ninja pal Yuffie is with as far as I know, will come back home safely..."

THE END

(Ending Credits)  
9-Volt - TARA STRONG  
Phoebe - HYNDEN WALCH  
Cheerful White - TARA STRONG  
Cute Pink - JANICE KAWAYE  
Keyla - TRACEY HOYT  
Patricia - AMY BIRNMAUM  
Cherry - ASHLEIGH BALL  
Mona - LESLIE SWAN  
Pit - ANTONY DEL RIO  
Phosphora - KARI WAHLGREN  
5-Volt - GREY DELISLE  
Wario (and his baby self) - CHARLES MARTINET  
Rudy Macrohard - JIMMY ZOPPI  
Rudeena Macrohard - KARI WAHLGREN  
Wreck-It Ralph - JOHN C. REILLY  
Vanellope von Schweetz - SARAH SILVERMAN  
Fix-It Felix Jr. - JACK MCBRAYER  
Sergeant Tamora Jean "T.J." Calhoun - JANE LYNCH  
Princess Sofia - ARIEL WINTER  
Kat - GREY DELISLE  
Ana - TARA STRONG  
18-Volt - CHRIS RAGER  
Valerie - JESSICA NIGRI  
Steven - RICHARD IAN COX  
Jaclyn - SANDY FOX  
John - CAM CLARKE  
Maya - ANDREA LIBMAN  
Violet - KERRY WILLIAMS  
Purple Basilisk - STEVEN JAY BLUM  
Warlock Bomber - JOHN DIMAGGIO  
Trigger Bomber - DONALD BROWN  
Mosquito Bomber - LAUREN TOM  
Icy - LISA ORTIZ  
Darcy - CAREN MANUEL  
Stormy - SUZY MYRES  
Penny Crygor - JANICE KAWAYE  
Bill Rizer - BOB BUCHHOLZ  
Lance Bean - SYLVESTER STALLONE  
King Billy Bling - DONNY LUCAS  
Ms. Perivelle - NICOLE OLIVER

[End Credits]

* * *

ONE NIGHT IN DIAMOND CITY...

With everybody bidding one another farewell and returning to their own homes, Cheerful White and Cute Pink were the only ones who willingly chose to spend a couple nights alongside 9-Volt and Phoebe at his house, before going back to planet Bomber with Cool Black and Acrobat Aqua. They all slept in their color-matching sleeping bags in his bedroom, dreaming about the fun times they would eventually spend with Keyla, Patricia and Maya in the magical lands of Enchancia, Alfea, and perhaps the Pokemon World.

...Until without warning, loud noises could be heard like someone banging on the front door, waking them (and 9-Volt's mom) up. Thinking there was a burglar coming to rob the house blind, 5-Volt signaled for her son and his three best friends to stand back, ready to summon an Eidolon should the supposed burglar be heavily armed and in cahoots with the remnants of Red Falcon's butchers. But when she looked out the window and saw someone familiar, a close friend rather than a crook, she stood her ground and opened the front door.

"Oh, thank goodness you guys are all okay! Is 9-Volt safe?" Yuffie took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "Those crummy Space Pirates better not have done anything bad to him and his best friends while we were away!"

[Alert BGM: Decision (Gunstar Heroes)]

"Space Pirates?" wondered 5-Volt.

"No time to explain! We've gotta get over to Crygor Labs at once!"

"What's going-" Before 9-Volt could get a few more words out of his mouth, the ninja teen hugged him tightly.

"9-Volt, you're okay! Did they come all the way here to hurt you and your pals just to make us bow down to their power? Any cuts? Bruises?" She frantically checked him for any injuries, and upon finding out he wasn't hurt at all, she held him closer in a protective hug. "Let's go, fellas! We'll explain on the way."

"Yuffie went to get me first before we came over to your house," explained Mona, riding with Yuffie and the four kids, and 9-Volt's mom in her car. "Sorry we didn't call first; there just wasn't time to do so because she said something about the Space Pirates coming with the Red Falcon Empire's remnants. We need to prepare to defend Diamond City at all costs until Pit and Phosphora can get here, as they're already dealing with the same threat up in Skyworld."

A few minutes later, they arrived at Crygor Labs and ran all the way inside to see even more shocking news: _Aaron, Ami, Bill and Lance were injured in battle!_ Blaze Bomber, however, was miraculously not in critical condition, though from the looks of it, Arctic Bomber was quarantined in another room with King Billy sitting outside.

"I swear, if I ever get my hands on those Space Pirate bastards that poisoned poor Arctic..." mumbled the Bomber-girl's former rival.

"What happened to Aaron, Ami, Bill and Lance?" asked Mona.

"Somebody sucker-punched them when they were down..." answered Ami's best friend Yumi.

TO BE CONTINUED IN GAME-JUMPING ADVENTURES #4...

[End BGM]

* * *

And here we come to the end of this story...but because the events of GJA #3 and #4 are occurring simultaneously, the follow-up situation where our heroes must prepare to defend Diamond City from an onslaught of Space Pirates will be saved for another time.


End file.
